By: Madeline Rodrigue, OSCIA Knowledge Mobilization Specialist

The Ontario Soil and Crop Improvement Association (OSCIA) is excited to continue its role as the delivery agent for the innovative applied research initiative, the On-Farm Applied Research and Monitoring (ONFARM) program. The program, which began in 2019, will be expanded and enhanced by an additional $7 million over five years through the Sustainable Canadian Agricultural Partnership (Sustainable CAP), as announced by the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA) on July 12.

Through Sustainable CAP, the governments of Canada and Ontario are investing millions in the Ontario Agricultural Sustainability Initiative (OASI) to support initiatives like ONFARM, which are designed to support farmers in making their agricultural lands more productive and resilient. Steve Sickle, President of OSCIA, supported the announcement, saying, “Continuing the ONFARM research program promises to heighten our understanding of soil health on different landscapes across the province and under different management practices.”

The ONFARM program encompasses a range of activities, including rigorous monitoring of soil health and water quality on working farms across the province and examining the effectiveness of different agricultural best management practices (BMPs) and how these practices ultimately impact productivity. The program’s continuation means that critical evidence supporting BMP outcomes will continue to be collected from the long-term soil health trial and edge-of-field water quality monitoring sites.

This next phase of ONFARM will build upon the wealth of data collected over three seasons, enabling a deeper understanding of the impacts of the BMPs such as cover cropping and organic amendment application, and novel soil health indicators being tested.

The program’s extension also aims to uncover insights into how these BMPs support good soil-water dynamics for crop resilience and learn more about how profitability and site-specific agronomy can support cooperators’ management decisions. As a new focus for the program, understanding how BMPs may enhance drought resiliency is one-way ONFARM will continue to support the long term vitality of the agri-food sector, and aligns the program with priorities set for Sustainable CAP by the federal, provincial, and territorial agricultural ministers in the Guelph statement.

The announcement of program renewal closely follows the completion of a core component from the first iteration of the program with the wrap up of the ONFARM modelling, which demonstrates the impact ONFARM research has made on our understanding of BMP efficacy and water quality. Modelling reports were completed at the end of June and are available through the ONFARM website. 

 
 
 

ONFARM modelling details the impact of BMPs on reducing nutrient loading.

Water quality and land management data collected by the partnering Conservation Authorities were used by the University of Guelph’s Watershed Evaluation Group to develop an IMWEBs model for several subwatersheds. The model predicts the stream flow moving through the subwatersheds, as well as associated sediment, phosphorus, and nitrogen loads on an annual basis.

The modelling evaluated the impact of three beneficial management practices (BMPs): conservation tillage, cover crops, and fertilizer/manure incorporation on these parameters. Model output included the impact of historical and current BMP implementation, and the potential impact for nutrient reduction from full-scale implementation of each BMP across all farms in the watersheds.

Modelling showed that sediment transported by overland flow averaged between 0.31-1.0 tonnes/ha for these watersheds annually. Total nitrogen loss at the subwatershed outlets varied from 19.5-33.71 kg/ha; for context, consider the cost of 38 to 65 lbs/ac of urea a year – that’s something worth holding on to!

From the start of GLASI (Great Lakes Agricultural Stewardship Initiative, the previous BMP implementation program focussed on these watersheds) and continuing through ONFARM, the model estimates BMP use has reduced total phosphorus loading by 1-5% from cover crops, 4-6% from conservation tillage, and 9-30% from fertilizer incorporation compared to conventional practices. Modelling full-scale adoption of all three BMPs has shown the potential to reduce well over half of all total phosphorus loading in these watersheds.

Switching from broadcasting fertilizer or manure to using injection, subsurface placement, or immediate incorporation has shown the most potential to reduce phosphorus loss and was also the most cost-effective of the three BMPs examined. Cost-effectiveness of each BMP depended greatly on the individual characteristics of each farm operation; for example, a live-stock operation grazing cover crops had a direct benefit in lieu of feed cost compared to cash crop operations without that option. 

To learn more about ONFARM or to download the reports, visit: https://www.osciaresearch.org/onfarm-applied-research/ 

Inquiries can be directed to ONFARM@ontariosoilcrop.org