The impressive glass-clad Agriculture Building is a testament to the importance of agriculture and agricultural research—not only to the university, but also to Saskatchewan and to Canada. Constructed between 1988 and 1991 for approximately $91 million, the building has 212 offices, 180 research labs, 38 teaching labs and over 20 classrooms and conference rooms. It is also home to the Beamish Conservatory, the Kenderdine Gallery and the Kloppenburg Collection.
The College of Agriculture had long dreamed of having a central research and teaching facility. Dr. Leo Kristjanson, University of Saskatchewan president from 1980-89, shared this dream. In order to fund a feasibility study on a new building, he created the Sodbusters Club. His goal was to recruit 100 people to each donate $1,000 for the study. Dr. Kristjanson was the first member and donor.
In fact, the Sodbusters Club recruited 137 members. The completed study was the catalyst for the provincial and federal governments to commit funding, with the agreement that the university would raise $12 million of the estimated cost. In 1986, a national fundraising campaign called Partners in Growth was launched. Within four years, more than 3,300 alumni, individuals and corporations across Canada had contributed more than $13.1 million to the campaign. Alumni alone, representing a span of 70 class-years, collectively contributed $1.7 million.
At the official opening in 1991, the Partners in Growth campaign co-chair Ted Turner (DipAg’48) told a crowd of over 4,000 guests, "What we have done is ensure the U of S is going to have one of the two or three major agricultural colleges in the country."