Research Library
EFAO’s research library is an open access resource where you can find all of EFAO’s research protocols, reports and publications, and other on-farm research guides.
Farmer-led research (FLR) is a process of inquiry wherein farmers use scientific methods to address their own on-farm curiosities and challenges in ways that are compatible with the scale and management style of their operations. With its flexible, adaptable, participatory, grassroots-oriented nature, FLR has typically been employed by farmers interested in ecological farming techniques and technologies, and evidence shows that it contributes to the adoption and improvement of ecological management practices across a range of contexts. Engagement in FLR initiatives has also been linked to positive social outcomes, including community building, farmer empowerment, and enhanced capacity for leadership and collective action. In this paper, we present a case study of the Ecological Farmers Association of Ontario’s (EFAO) Farmer-Led Research Program (FLRP), which is currently one of relatively few FLR initiatives in North America. We draw on data from a participatory, mixed-methods research project. Our results highlight how the FLRP is enabling farmers to feel more knowledgeable, confident, motivated, and inspired to adopt and/or improve ecological practices on their farms, in part by supporting them in building robust social networks that align with their farming values and priorities.
Keywords
- Farmer-led Research, Ecological Agriculture, Farmer-to-Farmer Networks, Knowledge-Sharing, Social Learning, Evidence-Informed Practice, Ontario
Rav et les autres agriculteurs voulaient documenter les meilleures variétés de gombo pour la production dans différentes fermes du sud de l’Ontario et du Québec.
En Bref
- Une grande variabilité entre les variétés a rendu difficile la distinction entre les « meilleures » et les « pires » variétés de gombo.
- La variété Emerald Green a été performante en ce qui concerne la germination, le rendement, la cote et les préférences des producteurs.
- Les clients du marché des producteurs et des paniers d’ASC aiment toutes les variétés. Les producteurs sont alors invités à opter pour les variétés les mieux adaptées à leur système de production.
To innovate systems that reduce tillage and keep the soil covered using cover crops for organic vegetable production in southern Ontario, Ken Laing tested 60+ combinations of crops and ground cover over three years.
In a Nutshell
The most promising systems that emerged from his investigations included:
- Garlic no-till planted in the fall into a mown cover crop of sorghum sudangrass
- Potatoes no-till planted into winter rye, which is mown before potato emergence
- Winter squash no-till planted into hairy vetch or deep compost mulch
- Field tomatoes planted into winter rye and hairy vetch; with more trials needed to confirm
As part of the Living Lab–Ontario project funded by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada Brett Israel tested strategies to make reduced tillage more scalable for organic field crop production systems in southern Ontario by double cropping soybeans with small grains and forages and adding N-fixing forages to his corn rotation.
In a Nutshell
Over two years of trials, the most promising systems that emerged from his investigations included:
- Overwintered cereal rye harvested for forage before planting soybeans
- Winter barley planted ahead of short season soybeans
- Spring-planted alfalfa harvested for forage and then incorporated as the sole nitrogen source for the following corn crop
The growers’ objectives were to document the best fava varieties for urban rooftop and field production across different farms in southern Ontario.
In a Nutshell
- Distinguishing the “best” and “worst” among fava varieties wasn’t possible due to crop failure and missing data
- All fava varieties had issues with disease and heat stress, leading growers to note a need for regionally adapted varieties of fava
- Fava was a popular item at markets and through CSAs as many customers don’t see fresh fava very often!
The growers’ objectives were to document the best iceberg lettuce varieties for successional head production across different farms in southern Ontario; and to assess the viability of the varieties for seed production in Zone 3 in northern Ontario.
In a Nutshell
- Iceberg can be a difficult lettuce to grow and market because of the variability and inconsistencies in head development
- Due to issues with replication, no concrete recommendations can be made on which iceberg variety is best for successional head production in southern Ontario
- Two varieties that rose to the top for growers were Laibacher Eis 4 and Marius, both of which came from a co-operative organic breeding network in Germany
- Due to disease pressure, no seed was produced in Zone 3 from any of the iceberg varieties
Mike and the other farmers wanted to document the best red pepper varieties for production across different farms in southern Ontario and on one farm in British Columbia.
In a Nutshell
- Ace F1 is still the red pepper to beat in terms of productivity and flavour
- Some growers around Guelph experienced extreme levels of pepper maggot infestation, which prevented some data collection for the trial
- Most Ontario growers mentioned that they would not likely grow these varieties of red peppers outdoors again, but instead would stick to poly tunnels or hoophouses as yields and quality are better
- Ace F1, Sprinter, and Crimson Carillon surfaced as favourites for the unreplicated hoop house trial in British Columbia
Rav and the other farmers wanted to document the best okra varieties for production across different farms in southern Ontario and Québec.
In a Nutshell
- High variability among varieties made it difficult to distinguish “best” and “worst” okra varieties
- Emerald Green performed well with respect to germination, yield, ratings, and grower preferences
- Market and CSA customers like all varieties, so go with the varieties that are best suited to your production system
In a continuation of his 2021 quinoa variety screening trial, Dean screened the viability of transplanting quinoa for five seeding dates and two transplant dates.
In a Nutshell
- Quinoa can be successfully grown from transplants and this method offers excellent weed control under organic management
- The efforts and cost of transplanting labour appears to be feasible with the high price of organic quinoa
- Dean believes that with no difference in germination and transplant survivability, earlier transplanted quinoa would be easier to manage with a longer harvest window and less possibility of head sprouting in the fall
Hans was interested in finding a starter mix that can produce healthy and vigorous seedlings without the use of peat moss.
In a Nutshell
- Both biochar and coco coir mixes performed comparatively well to ProMix BX by Hans’ observation
- Hans prefers the potential of biochar mixes over coco coir, given that biochar can be locally sourced or produced
- More on-farm trials are needed to assess the viability of alternative starter mixes
- More research is needed into the life cycle assessment of both peat moss and biochar
Ann wanted to know if there was a yield benefit to growing four-row compared to three-row beets in a three foot bed system. She also wanted to investigate whether there is a difference in labour required for weeding and disease pressure between the two systems.
In a Nutshell
- Using an Earthway seeder with no thinning, Ann found no difference in beet yield between three-row and four-row plantings.
- Ann observed three-row beets were less labour intensive for weeding and that she could use time-saving tools like a wheel hoe longer into the season.
towards the nitrogen requirements of the following cash crop. They established a randomized
block design with low- and high-legume cover crop treatments. They sampled cover crop
biomass and used lab analyzes paired with a free online calculator from Oregon State
University to estimate plant available nitrogen (PAN) from the cover crops, and also tested
an in-field method to estimate PAN. Finally, they took soil nitrate samples throughout the
growing season to better understand the best tools to manage his fertility.
In a Nutshell
- Legume cover crop mixes can supply a lot of PAN, potentially in excess of the needs of some vegetable crops.
- Cover crops act as an effective catch crop by reducing soil nitrate early in the season.
- Legume content in a cover crop mix moderates in-season PAN as indicated by soil nitrate.
- Cover crop biomass sampling coupled with lab analysis and the online calculator provided a simple, cost effective tool for quantifying PAN contribution of cover crops.
- Both pre-plant and mid-season soil nitrate-nitrogen sampling were effective tools for predicting PAN availability when Jesse and Meghan compared their results to the literature.
L’objectif de Becky était de voir s’il était possible d’établir des lieux de cultivation sans labour qui remplacerait de pâturages permanents existants pour la production de fleurs coupées.
En Bref
- Le paillis de résidus de cultures, du compost profond et le travail du sol (témoin) n’a donné aucun résultat appréciable par faute d’une mauvaise germination dans la répétition de son essai.
- Becky a eu de la chance en cultivant des tournesols dans deux parcelles de démonstration qu’elle a bâchées pendant 12 mois et 2 mois, respectivement.
- Becky recommande d’utiliser des bâches pendant de 2 à 12 mois avant de tenter la cultivation dans des pâturages permanents
The growers’ objective was to document the best summer and fall head lettuce across different farms throughout southern and eastern Ontario during the 2020 season.
In a Nutshell
- Magenta, Muir, and Nevada were the top varieties with respect to overall vigor, flavour, and germination in the summer.
- Green Star was the growers’ least favourite variety overall in the summer.
- Magenta, Ruby Sky, and Red Mist (from Vitalis Organic Seed) were the top varieties with respect to overall vigor in the fall.
- Encino was the growers’ least favourite variety overall in the fall.
- Red Mist (from another seedhouse) had poor germination rates, demonstrating that seed source – and not just variety – matters.
Amaranth is climate-resilient and nutrient-dense, and is an important Indigenous plant of the Americas. To learn which varieties of amaranth are best suited for their region of southern Ontario, Ronaldo and Myriam compared five varieties of amaranth in an unreplicated screening trial.
In a Nutshell
- They observed differences among the varieties in germination, flowering times, flowering patters and yield and think that Grain Amaranth from Richters Herbs and Atitlan Dorado from IMAP Guatemala merit consideration for a replicated trial.
Ryan and Isabelle tested whether a crimped cover crop of rye and hairy vetch reduced tillage, cultivation and irrigation for their fall broccoli crop.
In a Nutshell
- Compared to tillage, the cover crop residue provided sufficient mulch to significantly reduce weeding time and increase soil moisture throughout the growing season by 11%. There was adequate rainfall, so they didn’t need to use irrigation in the tillage plots.
- Broccoli grown in crimped cover crop mulch had around half the marketable yield compared to the tilled plots.
- The yield loss combined with no difference in total labour made this no-till system as tested unviable for broccoli production.
To identify the best performing crosses of sweet potato for organic farming systems in the Ottawa area, Kate, Erin and Lise-Anne compared nine new crosses of sweet potato and one check variety (Covington) in a replicated and randomized trial across three farms.
In a Nutshell
- They identified three varieties that they think are definitely worth continuing to grow and observe, and another two “runner-up” crosses that are alsopromising.
Ryan et Isabelle ont testé si une culture de couverture sertie de seigle et de vesce velue réduirait le travail du sol, l’entretien de la culture et l’irrigation pour leur récolte de brocolis d’automne.
En Bref
- Par rapport au travail du sol, les résidus de culture de couverture ont fourni suffisamment de paillis pour réduire consid rablement le temps de d sherbage et augmenter l’humidité du sol tout au long de la saison de croissance avec 11% plus d’humidité que la parcelle de contrôle. Les pluies étaient suffisantes, de sorte qu’ils n’avaient pas besoin d’irriguer les parcelles de labour.
- Le brocoli cultivé dans le paillis créé par la culture de couverture serti avait environ la moitié du rendement commercialisable par rapport aux parcelles labourées.
- La perte de rendement combinée à l’absence de différence dans la main-d’oeuvre totale a rendu ce systéme sans labour, tel que testé, non viable pour la production de brocoli.
As a follow-up to their 2019 multi-farm trial, we compared 5 large tomato varieties and 4 cherry tomato varieties grown by grafting onto four different rootstocks and an ungrafted control.
In a Nutshell
- The best choice of rootstock was specific to the scion, with some rootstocks producing no improvement
or even reducing yield for some varieties of scion. - Compared to ungrafted plants, Caiman F1 large tomatoes had great yield and profitability when grafted DR0141TX rootstock.
- Preliminary data suggest that only Sakura cherry tomato may benefit from grafting on Fortanimo or Estanimo, but more replicates are needed to be confident.
- Preliminary data suggest that grafting “heirloom- like” hybrid varieties tested does not confer a yield advantage, but that open pollinated Striped German maybe benefit from being grafted onto Fortanimo.