Farmer-led research program harvests new knowledge in Ontario

ST. AGATHA — Angie Koch has always wondered if planting a different cover crop might help her yearly harvest of cabbage, broccoli and kale.

Last summer, the St. Agatha farmer had the chance to find out with her own scientific study. And this summer, she’ll again join a growing number of Ontario farmers who are finding time for on-theground trials in between planting and harvesting, all to get some hard data in the search for what works best.

In 2016, Koch and nine other farmers were part of the first year of a farmer-led research program created by the Ecological Farmers Association of Ontario. It was the first of its kind in Ontario, said Sarah Hargreaves, the association’s farmer-led research program manager.

Farmer-led research puts science in the hands of the people who actually run farms. With Hargreaves’s help — she has a PhD in soil ecology — farmers can design trials that aim to answer their questions and help them farm better.

“Farmers often run trials ad hoc on their farms all the time, “Koch said. “But we don’t always get results that we can draw really clear answers from.” There might not be a good control group, or just not enough data, to draw a firm conclusion, she explained. Through farmer-led research, the EFAO wants to create a bank of useful information that explores ecological farming practices like crop diversification, green manures, cover crops and composting, to name a few. The data is then made available for free on the association’s website.

“There’s some motivation in knowing ... I might help other farms improve their systems as well, “Koch said. “It’s an exciting project, it feels like it could have a lot to contribute.”

The trials are run on working farms, not in a lab, but the participants and the Ecological Farmers Association still expect valid, helpful results.

“There’s a time and place for anecdotes,” said Hargreaves, but people are basing economic decisions on this information: “You want the data to be robust.”

Last year 10 farmers participated. This year’s trials are still being finalized but she expects 15 to 20 for 2017.

Last year was a pilot project, run with a $75,000 grant from the Ontario Trillium Foundation. Since then, the EFAO’s farmer-led research program has been renewed for another three years.