b"VIEWPOINTSStriving Forward for FCDCThe Field Crop Development Centre is settling into its new home at Olds College.Editors note: This interview has been edited for length and clarity. MARK MACNAUGHTON is the program director at the Field Crop Development Centre (FCDC) at Olds College in Lacombe, Alta. He has been with FCDC for the past decade running the centre. Before that he worked as a rancher and in various positions with the provincial government from a beef and forage specialist to managing the Ag Info Centre. Alberta Seed Guide (ASG): Whats the Field Crop Development Centre?Mark MacNaughton (MM): The Field Crop Development Centre is a plant breeding group with the main focus on barley, but also we do triticale. We look to meet the needs of the ag industry for feed and food with these crops. We also have several labs that are focused on seed quality, pathology, and biotechnology. These labs are needed to support the breeding program as breeding is much more than what happens in the field. The Centre was actually started withMark MacNaughton, program director at the Field Crop Development Centrean initial investment from the hog growers of Alberta back in 73. They were looking for greater feed varietiesASG: FCDC was transferred fromfar greater focused on ag and applied ag of barley that were adapted to Albertathe provincial government toresearch. Their Smart Farm platform is a and asked the provincial governmentOlds College last year, when thereally great foundation, and theyve really for assistance. They were looking forgovernment was stepping backbeen building on that in the last five years. a made at home solution versus at thatfrom ag research. Why was itThey didnt have any history in any time the only place in breeding barley Itransferred to Olds?area of the genetic works. It was an believe was the U of S in Saskatoon andMM: That's a very interesting question andopportunity, as the government was Ag Canada in Brandon. So FCDC wasactually lots of folks wondered that. Howtransitioning out of it. They saw it as a createdfocusing at that point mainlyOlds College looked at this was they'recomplement to the overall direction of on barley. saying, okay so Olds College is becomingthe college and felt it actually could be 18seed.ab.ca"