OSCIA Summer Farm Day & Bus Tour

Andy & Lori Van Niekerk invite you to spend a day at their Simcoe County farm in heart of the Georgian Central region! The 2025 Summer Farm Day & Bus Tour is happening Aug 22-23 in Stayner, Ontario, and it’s packed with innovative soil health practices & hands-on insights. This year’s theme: Applied Farm Research, highlighting practical, on-the-ground innovations that are helping to shape the future of Ontario agriculture.

Registration is required; please purchase tickets below.

Summer Farm Day: Friday, Aug. 22 – Stayner, Ontario

Tour a working farm (address to be provided after registration), enjoy networking opportunities, hear from a line-up of guest speakers, and enjoy a hot lunch from Valley Farm Market. Don’t miss this opportunity to connect with other Ontario farmers, agribusinesses and industry leaders. As OSCIA’s Provincial Director for Georgian and 1st Vice-President of the Board, as well as a passionate and dedicated farmer, Andy fully embraces the value of hands-on, practical research in farming. In his words, “There are never any mistakes, only test plots.” He and Lori look forward to welcoming you for a day of shared knowledge, connection and inspiration.

Tickets are $35/person for the Farm Day (Aug. 22).

Farm Day Agenda

*The Aug. 22 Farm Day is a recognized Knowledge Sharing Event (KSE) for OFCAF participants in both the cover cropping and nutrient management categories.*

Session Overview & Speaker Bios

Session 1: Manage Resistance Now: The One Stop Shop for Resistance Resources
Speaker: Brittany Lacasse, Manager Stewardship and Sustainability, CropLife Canada
The Manage Resistance Now initiative is a collaborative effort of industry, academia, and government experts, brought together by CropLife Canada. The program is dedicated to helping growers and industry proactively manage the development of resistance to pest control tools to support the long-term sustainability of the agriculture industry.

Session 2: Learnings from the Great Lakes YEN
Speaker: Joanna Follings, Cereals Specialist, OMAFA
Hear the latest on the Great Lakes YEN project and what top wheat growers in the region are doing to maximize yields and close the gap on yield potential.

Session 3: Building Resiliency with Cover Crops—Taking the Long View
Speaker: Dr. Laura Van Eerd, Professor University of Guelph
Dr. Van Eerd will speak to her research work looking at the biogeochemical cycling of nitrogen and carbon in various agroecosystems including work she is undertaking on providing solutions to farmers to improve soil sustainability.

Session 4: Introduction to Living Lab Ontario
Speaker: Owen Ricker, Farmer Engagement and Research Liaison, OSCIA
Living Lab – Ontario is a five-year innovation project that brings together farmers, organizations, researchers, and other experts to co-develop, test, and evaluate beneficial management practices (BMPs) that address climate change challenges in livestock and cropping systems. Learn about the 15 trials that are occurring across the province focused on increasing soil organic carbon, nitrogen efficiency and use, cover crop grazing, manure storage management and field edge practices. The goal of each trial is to identify BMPs that will help capture carbon and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Session 5: On-Farm Composting
Speaker: Nicole Brouwer, Farm Manager, Glen Road Organics
Explore how our Farm Day hosts, Andy and Lori Van Niekerk, compost deadstock on-site & watch a live compost turning demo.

Session 6: Living Labs Manure Project—Methane Measurement & Mitigation
Speaker: Steve Burtt, Living Lab Research Coordinator, AAFC
Learn about the manure storage project occurring on the farm of Andy Van Niekerk. The project is testing practical strategies to reduce methane emission from liquid manure storage including additives and other management practices.

Summer Bus Tour: Saturday, Aug. 23

Join a bus tour of regional points of interest (includes lunch). Participants are asked to gather at the Van Niekerk farm in Stayner (address to be provided after registration) between 8:30 and 9:00 a.m. to board the bus ahead of a prompt 9:00 a.m. departure. Our full-day agenda is as follows; a bagged lunch will be provided.

Tickets are $40/person for the Bus Tour (Aug. 23).

Bus Tour Agenda

• Miller’s Dairy: An 800-acre dairy and crop operation that is home to Jalon Jerseys, a 100% purebred herd, consisting of 130 milking cow and an equal number of young stock. All feeds are grown on-farm with corn, soybeans and wheat sold as cash crops.
• Ontario Crops Research Station – Bradford: See an aerial image below! This station includes a plant pathology lab, greenhouses with ebb and flow benches and computer monitored environment, cold storage facilities to provide the specific requirements for long term storage of onions and carrots, and several sites for field research.
• Beattie’s Distillers: Premium farm-to-bottle potato vodka and gin products made using only the heart of the homegrown potatoes, and five generations of farm-crafted pride (find it at the LCBO!). Beattie’s was the first Canadian gin to be made entirely from potatoes.
• Agripharm Corp: A licensed manufacturer of consumer cannabis products with expertise in both cultivation and processing. Agripharm is on the frontier of the Canadian cannabis industry, producing a wide range of products using best-in-class manufacturing practices.