FARMING ISN'T JUST A BUSINESS: IT'S A WAY OF LIFE
BASF is proud to have deep roots in farming communities across Canada. Whether it’s through the strength of our partnerships with industry associations or academic and research organizations, or through our community sponsorships and programs, BASF is there to support farmers and their communities both on and off the field.
WHERE WE GIVE
We focus our corporate giving to help foster connection between innovation, technology, and humanity to ensure mutually beneficial relationships with our stakeholders and their communities.
Developing future leaders for agriculture
We partner with organizations that build the skills and capacity of youth to contribute meaningfully to the advancement of, as well as public knowledge and understanding for, modern agriculture.
Promoting diversity, equity and inclusion in agriculture
We partner with organizations that help to promote diversity, equity and inclusion in agriculture and work to build an industry where equal opportunity is not only afforded, but celebrated, to people of all backgrounds and beliefs.
Building safe and healthy communities
We partner with organizations that are dedicated to advocating, educating, and providing the resources that contribute to safe and well communities, free from serious injury and harm, and secure in both food and nutrition, that enables humanity to live long, full lives.
COMMUNITY GIVING
We want to make an impact in the communities across Western Canada. Here’s more on projects such as product donations, community building projects and fundraisers we’re undertaking to give back to our communities.
Acres for Hamiota
In 2022, BASF donated 120 acres of InVigor® L340PC.
In support of Acres for Hamiota – a community harvest fundraiser wherein product is grown, harvested and sold – with proceeds going towards local charities and community groups.
The canola harvested from the 2022 fundraiser yielded just over 48 bushels per acre and helped raise over $100,000 that is being invested back into the Hamiota community and surrounding area. We were proud to work with Acres for Hamiota in 2022 to offer not only our canola seed, but also our support and enthusiasm by participating in their “Ag in the Classroom” day and local field tours to share our commitment to Canadian agriculture.
Farming for Health
One of BASF’s core values is helping create safe and healthy communities.
Events like Farming for Health are a great way to partner with community and industry stakeholders to ensure that anyone who grows, sells, handles or hauls cops stays safe from seeding to harvest.
The Yorkton Health Foundation hosted Farming for Health and harvested crops to raise funds to help purchase new hospital equipment. BASF donated 320 acres of fungicide (Nexicor®, Facet L® and Certitude®) towards the project. Currently in its 10th year, 2022’s harvest raised a record-breaking $395,036. We were proud to have supported a harvest that surpassed all previous years!
Fueling bodies & minds at Riverton Collegiate
We believe in providing access to healthy, affordable food for all.
In early 2022, we helped the students at Riverton Collegiate in Riverton, Manitoba, by funding a hot lunch program at the school for the second year in a row.
Our donation of $10,000 provided Riverton students with access to free, nutritious lunch options during their school year. The resulting lunch program also helped foster more human connections for students – particularly during the difficult COVID-19 pandemic – through the preparation and sharing of good food, together.
CORPORATE GIVING
It’s important for BASF Canada Agricultural Solutions to make an impact across Canada, beyond the field, to support farmers and their communities. With our 3 giving pillars, here’s more on how we aim to help build safe and healthy communities, develop future leaders and promote equal opportunity within the industry.
BASF Safety Scouts
We believe that playing safely on the farm is one of the most important lessons a child can learn, and it’s one in which families and caregivers also play a critical role. Now in its third year, the BASF Safety Scouts program supports families in having important conversations around safety on the farm with their children.
The BASF Safety Scouts program offers participants an official “safety kit” which includes an adjustable CSA Z96-15 compliant safety vest, safety-themed activity and educational colouring sheets, a BASF Safety Scouts reward badge, and an official membership certificate.
The BASF Safety Scouts program signals an extension of BASF’s ongoing dedication toward building safe and healthy communities across Canada, specifically safety on the farm. We continue to work closely with our network of growers, retailers and industry partners to ensure that anyone who works, lives, visits or plays on a farm remains safe.
4-H Canada
Youth play a critical role in securing the future of Canadian agriculture. Whether it’s about motivating them to find an exciting career path within the industry, or empowering them to positively contribute to their communities, BASF is committed to supporting today’s youth in agriculture. That’s why we’ve signed a three-year partnership (2021-2023) with 4-H Canada, which is designed to help youth leaders across the country positively impact their communities and use their voices to advocate for important issues. As the national Community Engagement & Communications Pillar partner for 4-H Canada, BASF will support both national and provincial programing, including the annual Show Your 4-H Colours initiative in November. Our partnership also supports 4-H Canada’s Youth Advisory Committee (YAC) as the national voice for 4-H youth in Canada, and as contributors to the direction of 4-H operations and governance. As youth ambassadors, YAC members bring their authentic youth voices to industry events, policy discussions, consultations, and international conferences.
STARS Air Ambulance
Safety is an important rural health issue, and we all have a role to play in keeping our industry safe. In 2022, we announced an exciting partnership with STARS air ambulance, making a $500,000 investment to help STARS upgrade their helicopter fleet. The donation supported STARS for their mission operations and helped the organization purchase medically equipped Airbus H145 helicopters at a cost of $13 million each.
STARS ensures farming communities across Western Canada have access to critical care by providing safe, rapid and highly specialized emergency transport system to critically ill and injured individuals will help STARS deliver vital care to patients across the Prairies and parts of British Columbia for the next 30 years or more. This was an important investment and will help reduce the chance of fatalities in rural regions.
STARS has been flying missions in the new Airbus H145 helicopters since mid-2019, thanks to government, community and corporate support of an ambitious capital campaign. The remainder of the new fleet was implemented at all six of its bases this past year.
We’re incredibly proud to partner with STARS and their team of dedicated staff and volunteers to provide an invaluable service to our region. This investment has helped ensure that farming communities across Western Canada continue to have access to critical care for years to come.
INDUSTRY RELATIONS
BASF Canada Agricultural Solutions is committed to the advancement of Canadian agriculture. Through collaboration and over 38 years of combined partnership with various industry partners, BASF is proud to support innovation and development for the future of farming. And here’s how we’re doing just that.
University of Saskatchewan Western College of Veterinary Medicine
As an agricultural solutions provider committed to balancing productivity and sustainability, we understand the need to support modern agriculture, while ensuring the responsible use of plant science technology, including the protection and creation of biodiverse communities.
In 2021, BASF proudly committed a $250,000 investment to the University of Saskatchewan’s Western College of Medicine (WCVM) to help establish a research chair position focusing on pollinator health and biodiversity. The contribution provides $50,000 per year over five years (2021- 2025) and helped create a permanent, tenured veterinary research chair who will focus on solutions to improve the health of both pollinators and the agricultural industries they support. The new veterinary research chair at the WCVM – supported by partnerships among industry stakeholders, including BASF competitors – represented an important step forward in strengthening sustainable agriculture and beekeeping. We’re proud to announce that in 2022, Dr. Sarah Wood (DVM, PhD) was hired as the new Pollinator Health Research Chair at the WCVM.
Together with the WCVM and British Columbia Blueberry Council, we’re also excited to report that a new five-year partnership has launched to investigate the multifactorial causes leading to the suboptimal availability of pollinator services for the Canadian blueberry industry. This project will help enhance the health and strength of overwintering colonies, improve bee health during blueberry pollination and support colony health after pollination occurs.
Our partnership with the WCVM marks an important piece of BASF’s North American sustainability initiative, Living Acres, which holistically supports agricultural sustainability through putting farmers first, driving smart stewardship, and partnering for innovation and influence, an invaluable service to our region. This investment has helped ensure that farming communities across Western Canada continue to have access to critical care for years to come.
University of Alberta Faculty of Agriculture, Life & Environmental Sciences
Canola plays a vital role in the Canadian economy, with 90 per cent of canola grown and harvested in Canada being exported to over 50 markets worldwide. In order to continue to drive the industry forward, ongoing investment and stakeholder collaboration is crucial. We are continuously investing in research and development that helps enhance existing agricultural solutions or bring novel and advanced tools to market for the benefit of growers and our customers.
In 2022, BASF announced a new research project in partnership with the University of Alberta’s Faculty of Agricultural, Life & Environmental Sciences (ALES) to tackle clubroot resistance in canola. The collaboration will see BASF invest $1.25M over a five-year period until 2026 and seek to deliver findings that support ongoing efforts to combat strains of clubroot, a soil-borne disease that causes major damage to canola crops.
Research and development is at the heart of BASF’s work and the innovative solutions coming out of the ALES will play a critical role in helping growers achieve higher yields. Our partnership with the ALES will provide research opportunities for a postdoctoral fellow, work in plant science for graduate and undergraduate students, as well as push forward innovation and crop improvement across industry partners.
University of Saskatchewan Crop Development Centre
BASF has a strong partnership with the University of Saskatchewan’s Crop Development Centre (CDC), which is a field crop research organization within the University’s Department of Plant Sciences that focuses on plant breeding and pathology to improve the agronomic and end-use performances of crops, including peas, lentils, chickpeas and wheat.
As one of the longest-standing public-private partnerships in Canadian agriculture, our 25-year partnership with the CDC has enabled significant innovations and developments to support the future of farming for pulse growers. Specifically, BASF’s $100,000 investment in the CDC has contributed to the development of a new, world-class Enhanced Breeding Facility to help enhance the Centre’s plant breeding programs.
Canada is the fifth largest agriculture exporter in the world with Canadian pulse farmers, supplying approximately 1.7 million tonnes of pulses in 2017 alone. It’s thanks to the dedication of savvy pulse growers eager to try new technologies and innovations that Canada has earned its top spot. Innovative new products and solutions that have been brought to the market over the last 40 years by BASF have also played a critical role in ensuring the sustainability and success of Canadian pulse growers.