Mark your calendars for a free, informative 2-hour workshop at the St. Marys Pyramid Centre – Friendship Centre Hall! This event brings together experts and local landowners to discuss solutions for improving soil health, water quality, tree planting and sustainable agricultural practices.

Attend this workshop and learn more about the highlights below:

Soil Health, Water Quality & Tree Planting

Improving soil health and water quality on farms, tree planting plus available funding programs.

Speaker: Chris Van Esbroeck, UTRCA Agricultural Stewardship Specialist

Best Management Practices
Best management practices, including nutrient management, reduced tillage, cover crops, and more.

Speaker: Sara & Chris Wood, AAC Vice Chair & Landowners

Conservation Drainage
Conservation drainage and its role in sustainable farming.

Speaker: Mel Luymes, Land Improvement Contractors of Ontario Executive Director

Supporting Aquatic Life through Stewardship
Speaker: Erin Carroll, UTRCA Aquatic Biologist

Don’t miss this opportunity to learn, connect, and explore! We can’t wait to see you there!

Join us for a hands-on workshop on soil and soil health where you’ll gain practical knowledge and skills from industry experts for assessing and improving the soil quality of your fields.

Training highlights include:

• identifying soil textures, soil profiles, and signs of tillage erosion,
• how to use simple tools and the Soil Health Assessment Plan Soil Health Indicators to assess soil health and degradation,
• developing recommendations in a Soil Health Plan based on your assessments, and
• current cost-share funding programs and knowledge-sharing opportunities for improving soil health.

This event is offered in partnership with Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Agribusiness (OMAFA), Soil Resource Group (SRG), Soils at Guelph, and Ontario Soil Network

For more information, please contact Beth Wrona, UTRCA Agricultural Stewardship Technician, at .

There is no cost to attend this event.

Join us on a tour of the Thorndale Demonstration Farm to learn about the suite of agricultural best management practices (BMPs) implemented on the farm. We’ll share how we’re testing and demonstrating various BMPs with the goal of improving and protecting soil health and water quality while maintaining productivity.

Highlights will include:

· Contoured controlled drainage system

· Newly installed StormTech storm water retention system

· Two water and sediment control basins

· Pollinator planting

· Windbreaks and block planting

· Cover crops

· Conservation tillage

For more information please contact Beth Wrona, UTRCA Agricultural Stewardship Technician, at .

There is no cost to attend this event

Rural landowners in the Upper Thames River watershed are invited to learn about conservation projects such as:

• tree planting including buffer strips, windbreaks, and highly erodible land retirement,
• wetland restoration,
• tallgrass prairie planting, and
• agricultural Best Management Practices (e.g., cover crops, erosion control structures, etc.)

Guest speakers include:

• Dave Green, Greenholm Farms Limited – cover crops, strip tillage, digestate management
• Phil Holst, Duck’s Unlimited – wetland creation and enhancement

Conservation Authority experts will discuss how they can help with the planning and design of these projects, as well as access grants to reduce costs by up to 80%.

Another bonus – the workshop is a Knowledge Sharing Event (KSE) with the Ontario Social and Crop Improvement Association.

Register online at