Funded by Cargill, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada through the Agricultural Climate Solutions Living Labs Program
Background
Launched in 2022 and set to run until March 31, 2027, the Peace Region Living Lab (PRLL) is one of 14 different Living Labs in the country under the Agricultural Climate Solutions - Living Labs (ACS-LL) program which aims at supporting Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) in creating and expanding a national network of Living Labs. Living Labs represents a fresh approach to agricultural innovation in Canada, bringing together farmers, researchers and other partners to design and test on-farm practices and technologies to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and enhance carbon sequestration under real-world conditions. By creating a nationwide network, this approach focuses on finding innovative solutions to environmental challenges in agriculture, including climate change, soil health, water quality, and biodiversity. The ultimate aim is to accelerate Canadian producers' development and adoption of sustainable farming methods and technologies.
The Living Labs approach is built on three key principles. First, it prioritizes farmers’ needs, recognizing them as essential partners who test innovations and contribute their practical knowledge and experience to their development and refinement. Second, it fosters broad and diverse partnerships, bringing together farmers, multidisciplinary scientists, Indigenous groups, government bodies, industry representatives, non-profits and producer organizations to develop sustainable farming practices and technologies collaboratively. Finally, the approach emphasizes testing innovations in real-life contexts, ensuring that on-farm practices and technologies are evaluated on local farms under actual agricultural conditions. This ensures that the solutions are practical, scalable, and effective for farmers to adopt in the real world.
The Peace Region Living Lab is a region-wide collaboration led by the Peace Region Forage Seed Association (PRFSA) in partnership with several producer groups and an indigenous partner (Figure 2). This Living Lab project is unique in Canada because it is the only one that spans two provinces - connecting producers from the Peace Region in both Alberta and British Columbia. The Peace Region stands out for its distinct landscape, blending prairie and boreal forest ecosystems. Despite its northern location and short growing season, the Peace Region is one of Canada’s key agricultural areas, particularly known for producing Canola, Wheat, Barley and Oats. It's also one of the few regions where crops like hemp and forage seeds are grown extensively due to this unique climate.
Methods
In 2023, PCBFA continued collaborating with 10 core producers by monitoring beneficial management practices (BMP) and checking sites with each farmer’s operation. Plot sizes are 10-acre polygons used for plot layout with 9 different georeferenced sampling points evenly spread within a polygon. The treatments are the BMPs while controls are adjacent check sites with conventional or no practice. A few sites have more than one BMP. Table 1 shows the BMPs that were monitored. With the spread of the core producer sites, 41 field visits were carried out. Parameters being measured include:
Soil Carbon Sequestration to a depth of 1 m (Year 1 and Year 5)
Short-term soil Carbon changes in the surface soil (Years 2, 3 and 4)
Direct GHG (N2O and methane) Emissions (none yet at PCBFA’s)
Indirect GHG Emissions (e.g., with Holos, Cowbytes & NLOS)
Co-Environmental Benefits that include:
Soil physical (e.g., texture, infiltration, compaction), chemical (e.g., N, P, K, S) and biological characteristics
Crop, forage seed and forage yield and quality
Insect and disease monitoring
Social and economic cost and benefits of BMP adoption
N budgets (N flows in and out of the farm)


Apart from the on-farm treatment BMP sites, 2 small plot experiments were conducted at our PCBFA Research Farm under the PRLL project. These were the:
Biostimulant Trial testing the effect of 7 different biostimulants and soil amendments on canola crop yield and grain quality (reported as a separate article)
Crop Livestock Integration Project (also reported as a separate article here)

Some Results
Table 2 displays various indicators related to soil health and environmental co-benefits.
The baseline soil pH ranged from 5.9 to 7.7 for the sites.
The initial (baseline) soil pH varied between 5.9 and 7.7 across the sites.
Bulk density (BD) baseline was highest at 1.4 g/cm3 and lowest at 0.9 g/cm3. Bulk density indicates the soil's capacity to provide structural support, facilitate water and solute movement, and allow for soil aeration. High bulk density suggests low soil porosity and increased compaction, which can impede root growth and hinder air and water movement within the soil. Values exceeding the thresholds outlined in Table 3 signify impaired soil function.
The baseline soil microbial respiration measured by the amount of carbon dioxide (24 hr. CO2) respiration varied from 1104 ppm to 26625 ppm.
For the baseline, the aggregate stability index used as a proxy for measuring soil structure, the backbone of the soil’s ability to support processes vital to the health and productivity of plants, animals and ecosystems varied between 0 to 7.
Infiltration refers to the vertical movement of water into the soil, with the rate of this process measured in inches per hour, indicating the soil's capacity for water absorption. This water is temporarily stored in the soil, benefiting root uptake, plant growth and soil organisms. In 2022, baseline infiltration rates ranged from a low of 2 inches per hour to a high of 33 inches per hour. In 2023, these rates generally exceeded the baseline, with values ranging from 3 inches per hour to 43.6 inches per hour, especially at BMP sites F2, F4, and F8, which showed significantly higher infiltration than their check sites. Conversely, site F6's control demonstrated a markedly higher infiltration rate compared to its BMP.
Soil compaction is a significant and often avoidable cause of soil degradation that leads to heightened erosion and reduced agricultural productivity. It occurs when soil particles are compressed into a smaller volume, decreasing the pore spaces needed for air and water. This compaction hinders water infiltration, root growth, and the uptake of nutrients and water by crops, ultimately leading to lower yields. Compaction is suggested when measurements are above 300 psi. For PCBFA, all sites had higher than 300 psi soil compaction readings, with values from 399 to 747 psi recorded at the sites. Compaction can lead to shallow root systems and hinder plant growth, negatively impacting crop yield and decreasing vegetative cover necessary for soil erosion protection. It reduces water infiltration, causing heightened runoff and erosion on sloped terrains or in waterlogged flat areas.



Future Activities
Monitoring of these parameters will persist until Year 5 (2026) of the project, at which point a clearer understanding of the changes will emerge. The outcomes of all outstanding soil analyses will be shared once they are finalized. Moving forward, additional results and their implications will be communicated to producers via various channels, including cluster learning, farm tours and workshops.
Acknowledgments
During the reporting year, PCBFA’s Peace Region Living Labs project sites received support from Cargill, DSV - Northstar Seed and Golden Acre Seeds.
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