2024 Session List

Welcome & Opening Remarks from Marla Carlson and Lyndon J Linklater

Canadian Organic Growers (COG) will present our programs and resources, highlighting COG's Saskatchewan based Regenerative Organic Oats (ROO) project funded by our partners at Nature’sPath and Riverside Natural Foods. During this session Dr. Kris Nichols, COG’s Senior Science Advisor, will speak to quantifying on-farm soil health assessments and how these are being used in COG’s ROO project. Rounding out the session, ROO farmer Colin Macdonald will speak about how theproject is assisting his operation.COG’s ROO project has been on the ground in Saskatchewan since 2021 and supports Prairie organicoat growers in adapting regenerative practices to meet the regenerative organic certificationrequirements. Working with Dr. Kris Nichols, COG’s Senior Science Advisor, ROO's network of Prairiefarmers are provided training on regenerative organic oat farming practices.Find out more about COG and our Regenerative Organic Oats project here:www.cog.ca/regenerative-organic-oats/

Organic Agriculture Centre of Canada will be hosting a facilitated discussion about new practices in organic grain production. During this session, Dr. Allison Squires, President of the Canadian Organic Growers and Dr. Dunling Wang, Provincial Specialist with Saskatchewan Ministry of Agriculture, will be speaking on the importance and impact of organic science research as a platform for seeking innovative solutions in production systems. Everyone attending the workshop will be actively involved in the discussion. We will be in breakout groups where producers will have a chance to share their experiences with research and new practices they have adopted.

Join us for a presentation on the most up to date organic sales (including import and exports) and production statistics followed by a thought-provoking discussion that aims to equip the audience with the knowledge and tools necessary to chart a course towards sustainable success in the evolving organic marketplace.

In the Canadian Prairies, a warming climate is advantageous for agriculture, but taking advantage of a longer, warmer growing season will require adaptation to offset the amplified climatic variability that is expected as the climate warms. Projections from climate models, and reconstructions of past climate from tree rings, suggest that we can expect years that are wetter and drier than in those of the past few decades. Various options and farming practices exist to sustain production under extreme soil moisture conditions, including drainage and irrigation and relying on crop insurance and other forms of financial assistance. Another approach to counteracting the impacts of excess water and agricultural drought is maintaining soil health. This presentation gives some climate change projections for western Canada, and suggests that healthy soil is an effective response to climate change by storing water and carbon, and improving the infiltration of excess water.

One of the most challenging things about farming today is that it is so risky, given the volatility of both weather and markets. Surviving and thriving in agriculture is all about managing this risk, and this is hard when it can feel like these variables are out of the farmer’s control. What organic farmers know is that the only truly durable way to manage risk is to spread it out. This talk will share stories of organic farmers spreading risk by investing in community at three levels: the microbial community belowground, the plant community aboveground, and the human community that makes it all possible.

The Prairie Pest Monitoring Network conducts annual monitoring and research to estimate the distribution and density of the primary pests of field crops in western Canada. Pests monitored by the PPMN include grasshoppers, wheat midge, bertha armyworm, and cabbage seedpod weevil. The PPMN also collects data to understand the biology and impact of these pest species and of their natural enemies. This presentation will summarize the life history, impact, and monitoring protocols for the primary pests of prairie field crops and discuss recent trends and changes in the distribution and abundance of these species. Preliminary results from the 2024 monitoring season will also be discussed, as well as implications for the 2025 growing season.  

A presentation on the major pest species, status of populations in Saskatchewan, a look forward to 2025, and methods to reduce damage and control. A particular emphasis will be placed on non-chemical control methods.

Cynthia shares information on the warning signs and impacts of challenged mental health and factors contributing to our state of health and wellbeing in farming. She also provides simple yet effective strategies for agriculture producers to manage stress, maintain productivity, improve wellbeing and communication on the farm. 

In 1985, a group of American musicians led by Harry Belafonte decided to create a benefit concert for African famine relief. “We are the world” was born. Today, at a time when the “green revolution” approach to agriculture is faltering, we need new inspiration and a new pathway. Who can offer hope at a time when the world is sorting out the challenges of food and nutritional security, the need for new job and livelihood opportunities, and rapid climate change? The organic agriculture movement in Canada and around the world has been critical to the development of practical solutions to these challenges. Sure, organic farm yields may not yet be at the levels of conventional production. But we are gaining ground quickly, and the organic philosophy helps curb our society’s wasteful mentality. Furthermore, the role of organic agriculture in regenerative farm education has been huge. It was organic farmers who developed and fine-tuned practices such as cover crops, intercrops and novel crop-livestock integration – practices that lead to healthy plant and animal derived foods that are produced based on nature’s wisdom. The approach used in the organic sector has also contributed to social equality and an expanded role of women and minorities in agriculture. By offering the bold title “We are the world”, we honour the pioneering spirit of men and women involved in the organic agricultural movement – a spirit that is needed for reconciliation with all people and the planet.

Join Dopamine Wellness for a 15-minute session designed to counteract the effects of sitting through an invigorating series of movements and stretches. You'll be guided to connect to your breath while mindfully moving in ways that will positively impact the entire body.

Understanding the soil health constraints present in your land is the crucial first step towards initiating the healing process for your soils. But why is it essential to benchmark our soil's health status? Which indicators should we prioritize when assessing soil health, and what insights can we glean from a comprehensive soil health report? These are the questions to be address in the Soil Health Assessment: Why and What the Soil Health Reports Means. An introduction to the Management Alternative for Soil Health Initiative (MASH-Initiative) will be presented. By gaining control over monitoring changes in your soil health management, you empower yourself to actively participate in the restoration and enhancement of your land's vitality

Hear about how the advent of gene editing is being used to remove government regulation in Canada and around the world, and to develop genetically engineered wheat and other products that threaten organic production. A retrospective of why and how the Organic Agriculture Protection Fund (OAPF) of SaskOrganics has fought genetic engineering will lead us to assess the current and emerging threat. What are the new issues facing organic farmers and how can we mobilize together to strengthen the organic movement?

Sit down with producers who have experience in all parts of the farm to fork part of the industry. Raising and selling direct to consumer and retails and the processes in between, these panelists will share some insight in to their operations. 

Come join us for an interactive breakout session on how to grow the next
generation of farmers. Together, we’ll dig into how apprenticeship,
mentoring, wage subsidies, and other strategies can help our sector
successfully recruit, train and retain new entrants across the prairies.

Young Agrarians is a farmer to farmer education resource network for
ecological, organic, and regenerative farmers. Our apprenticeship program
and business mentorship network are active in BC, AB, SK, and MB
attracting apprentices and supporting new farmers in start-up from across
Canada and abroad.

To export their organic produce, Canadian operators must comply with the practices and permitted substances described in the clauses of the Canadian Organic Standards. Every five years, all clauses of the Organic Standards are reviewed to clarify and modernize them. This revision exercise, launched in the summer of 2023, is currently underway: numerous requests for modifications have been submitted, and working groups are analyzing these requests before they are put to the vote of the members of the Technical Committee on Organic Agriculture.

Nicole Boudreau and Allison Squires, who are involved in the revision process, would like to consult you: they will present the major changes proposed to the organic standards, and ask for your opinion, since the standards influence your work as a certified organic operator. Come all to this presentation: you'll be invited to submit your vote for each change request presented! Your vote will be submitted to the working groups analyzing the proposed changes to the standards!

Join Canadian Organic Growers for an informative session about our Regenerative Organic Oats (ROO) program's successes, findings and key learnings. Hear from ROO producers and join in an open discussion about their experiences with regenerative agriculture, transitioning to regenerative, soil health focused practices and adopting a regenerative mindset. We welcome all producers who are interested in learning more about integrating regenerative agriculture practices into their farm operation into our conversation. 

Regenerative Organic Oats (ROO) is a three-year pilot project funded by Nature’s Path, Riverside Natural Foods; producers of the snack brand MadeGood and MGM Seed and Grain/ Bay State Milling that supports and bolsters the growth of the Canadian regenerative organic oats supply in the face of climate change.

Some consider that current conventional agriculture is unsustainable and does not fully address challenges such as climate change, environmental pollution, as well as the decline of biodiversity. In many cases organic farming systems adopt the so-called input substitution approach remain intensive and highly specialized and therefore are not necessarily able to significantly improve resilience or sustainability. Agroforestry is an agricultural approach based on the diversification of the agroecosystem production components (trees or shrubs, plus crops and/or livestock) and on the intensification of the relationships between these components. As such, agroforestry has transformative potential, providing an opportunity for increasing the sustainability of organic farming. In this presentation I review how the adoption of agroforestry practices could contribute to increasing resilience and sustainability in organic farming, and discuss the challenges and opportunities of this adoption.

Discover how to plan and analyze your crop rotation using the nutrient budget app, an innovative website designed to calculate nutrient exports and imports through nitrogen fixation, cover crops, manure application, grazing, and various other practices. 

Settee  will describe some of the large challenges facing humanity and the natural world today and why there is an urgency particularly by knowledge creators and higher learning to view our work in solving the challenges as critical, creative and life transforming. Indigenous communities are particularly impacted not just in Canada but throughout the globe by “development” largely for outside interests impacting local land based and Indigenous economies. The message of the keynote is to take positive actions that educate, involve citizen participation, look at shifting economies and resources that are gentler, diverse, community led, critically examine power relations and are respectful of the natural world. Dr. Settee invites participants to think of the well-being of the next seven generations and approaches that include Indigenous values of wichitowin(doing something for the greater good), wakotawin(we are all related).