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On-Farm Experimentation Community Info No. 38
Jun 3, 2025
Co-editor of the month
Thanks to my co-editors of the month Drs. Kirsten Hannam, Gary Telford, Shabtai Bittman and Jesse MacDonald, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s Science Leads for the British Columbia and Peace Region Living Labs (Canada)
Join the Future of Agri-Food Advisory & Extension at CAREE 2025!
The University of Guelph is proud to host the 1st International Conference on Canadian Agri-Food & Rural Advisory, Extension, and Education (CAREE) — October 29–31, 2025.
Researchers, educators, policymakers, and practitioners: submit your abstract by June 6, 2025 and be part of shaping the future of rural advisory and education. Learn more and submit your proposal here.
Researchers, educators, policymakers, and practitioners: submit your abstract by June 6, 2025 and be part of shaping the future of rural advisory and education. Learn more and submit your proposal here.
User-friendly tools for on-farm research in British Columbia
The BC Forage Council has released a farmer-focused Guide to On-Farm Demonstration Research featuring case studies and videos. The guide is relevant beyond forage systems. Meanwhile, BC ACARN connects farmers, researchers, and policymakers to support climate-resilient agriculture. Check out their YouTube that include the following topics among others:
Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada Living Labs in British Columbia and the Peace Region
Through its Agricultural Climate Solutions program, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada supports 14 Living Labs that unite farmers, scientists, and stakeholders to test climate-smart practices on working farms. These projects focus on reducing emissions and boosting soil carbon. The British Columbia and Peace Region Living Labs represent the westernmost sites in this national network.
- British Columbia Living Lab: Led by the Investment Agriculture Foundation of BC, this lab partners with 10 commodity groups and over 35 farms across the province. It focuses on sector-specific trials, socio-economic analysis, and extensive knowledge sharing through videos, webinars, and factsheets.
- Peace Region Living Lab: Led by the Peace Region Forage Seed Association, this lab collaborates with seven producer groups and 58 farms in northern BC and Alberta. It targets improved productivity and environmental resilience, with a strong focus on extension through podcasts, videos, and producer perspectives.
What is a cover crop? On-farm cover cropping trials, in apples, dairy, and more!
Organic BC supports organic producers in British Columbia. It is a grassroots network of organic certifiers, farmers, processors and consumers who are working to build healthy soil, ecosystems, people and communities. They have produced several video series highlighting on-farm cover crop trials in apples, beef cattle, dairy, winegrapes and beyond. Some of the on-farm trials highlighted in these videos are also supported by the BC and Peace Region Living Labs.
Should you have something to share with the Community or the Community leaders, let us know here.