Soil Health Day 2020
February 12, 2020 | SCRCA Stewardship Team
On February 12, 2020 the St. Clair Region Conservation Authority held the 2020 Soil Health Day at the Brooke-Alvinston-Inwood Community Centre. Nearly 100 farmers, agricultural industry, municipal, government and conservation representatives attended the one-day event.
Local, national, and international farmers and researchers presented their latest experiences and findings on a variety of soil health and nutrient management topics.
Topics focused on the use of agricultural best management practices (BMPs) to improve soil health, manage nutrients on the land, and consequently, reduce phosphorus loading to watercourses in the Sydenham River Watershed.
Keynote speakers included Steve Groff, a cover crop coach with over 25 years of experience farming with cover crops. Additionally, Dr. Donald Scavia, a professor with the University of Michigan, and Dr. Awoke Dagnew were part of a team that designed a phosphorus-loading model in the St. Clair-Detroit River watershed to estimate which bundles of BMPs will help us to reach the 40% phosphorus loading reduction targets outlined in the binational Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement.
The event was coordinated by the St. Clair Region Conservation Authority through funding from the Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada’s Canadian Nature Fund.
The event focused on the need for phosphorus load reductions from watersheds in the Lake Erie basin. Dr. Donald Scavia and Dr. Awoke Dagnew presented their latest research on phosphorus load contributions from watersheds in the St. Clair-Detroit River Corridor to Lake Erie—with a focus on the Sydenham Watershed—and how targeted bundles of BMPs can help achieve phosphorus load reduction targets.
Presentations
Sydenham River Watershed: A biological treasure
- Dave Balint (Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada)
Phosphorus contributions into Lake Erie
- Dr. Donald Scavia (University of Michigan)
- Dr. Donald Scavia shared his team’s latest research on phosphorus load contributions to Lake Erie from watersheds in the St. Clair-Detroit River Corridor
BMPs that achieve phosphorus reduction targets in Lake Erie
- Dr. Awoke Dagnew (Environmental Consulting & Technology, Inc.)
- Dr. Awoke Dagnew shared results of his recent modelling project that examined which BMPs will contribute the most to phosphorus load reductions for watersheds in the St. Clair-Detroit River Corridor.
Cost-effective drainage solutions to soil erosion
- Ian Smith (Lydian Environmental Consulting)
Wetlands and Phosphorus
- Bryan Page (Ducks Unlimited Canada)
- Bryan, Research Biologist at Ducks Unlimited Canada (DUC), shared the results of DUC’s one-year study investigating the role of newly restored wetlands on phosphorus retention.
Cover crops: improve your soil for generations! (video conference)
- Steve Groff (Cover Crop Coach)
- Steve Groff and his family, farm 305 acres of cash grain crops, cover crops for seed, pumpkins, hard squash and heirloom tomatoes in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.
- Founder of Cover Crop Coaching and Cover Crop Innovators, a subscription based global network of farmers, agronomists, and trainers
How do the soil microbes feel about cover crops?
- Christine George (Soil Health Educator and Microbiologist)
Breakout Sessions
Keep it covered, keep it green, and keep it growing
- Dan Breen (Middlesex Farmer, 2018 OSCIA Soil Champion)
- Dan Breen is a third generation dairy farmer and farms 800 acres
- His BMPs focus on crop rotation, no-till and cover crops as he believes that he needs to “Keep it covered, keep it green and keep it growing”
Carbon sequestration in riparian buffer systems
- Dr. Naresh Thevathasan (University of Guelph)
Equipment modification for inter-seeding and cover crop establishment
- Mike Belan (Lambton County Farmer, 2018 LSCIA Outstanding Farmer of the Year)
Building soil structure and organic matter
- Jim Denys (Middlesex Farmer, 2019 OSCIA Soil Champion)
- Jim focuses on building soil structure and organic matter by using cover crops and strip tilling
Long term crop rotation and its soil structure
- Dr. Richard Heck (University of Guelph)
Controlled tile drainage
- Michael Funk (Upper Thames Region Conservation Authority)