St. Clair Region – Shawn Brenneman (Provincial Director) on behalf of Blake Ellis
I took over the role of OSCIA Provincial Director for the St. Clair Region in October of 2024. A big thank you to Chad Quinlan, former Provincial Director, for his service the last few years.
We recently hired a Regional Communications Coordinator (RCC) for our region! Blake Ellis lives in Sarnia and has extensive experience in marketing, fund raising, and communications. As RCC, Blake’s role will include supporting our members and local associations, newsletters, communications, regional activities and initiative support.
On the regional initiative side, we are planning a joint county (Essex, CK, Lambton) Compaction Day in August of 2025. With our Region’s diversity of unique crops and equipment, we’re expecting some great data and information to be generated for our members.
We have a St. Clair Regional AGM planned at 12:15pm at the Chatham-Kent Farm Show, which is held January 29-30. If at the show, members are welcome to attend. We will have an official Provincial Director vote, open the floor to any resolutions for the Provincial AGM, and discuss upcoming events and activities for the region.
Follow us on twitter @stclairregion
Shawn Brenneman
Thames Valley Region – Cathy Dibble
2024 was a busy year across the Region, with successful and well-attended annual meetings and popular summer events.
Elgin SCIA held their summer tour in the Aylmer area, touring a hops farm and sampling hop water, checking out the progress on a new grain elevator build, watching a land remediation demonstration, finished up with talks on nitrogen management, tar spot and other corn diseases.
The Middlesex twilight meeting near Newbury featured fertilizer discussions in the field, soil/SWAT mapping and management, farm and road safety, and local conservation authority funding opportunities.
Oxford SCIA’s summer tour ventured into Brant County, touring an edible bean elevator, visiting a hops yard and processing facility followed by a stop at a local brewery that uses the local hops for samples and pizza.
Members from across the region participated in various field research trials, both county and regionally based, and with OMAFA Field Crop Staff projects. Regional updates were published throughout the year, including information about local activities, field trial results and updated rainfall and heat unit data from each county, distributed alongside the OSCIA Innovator newsletter both in electronic and paper formats as needed.
The regional website continues to be a popular source of information for coming local events, rain and heat unit data, local project reports, annual plot protocols and data, and tour photos. One director representing each county association and one from the regional board sit on the Southwest Ag Conference steering committee as part of the Ontario Ag Conference, meeting several times over the past year to plan 2025 Ontario Agricultural Conference event in conjunction with the Eastern Crops Conference and the Mid West Crops Conference events.
Cathy Dibble
Thames Valley SCIA Regional Communication Coordinator
(Elgin, Middlesex and Oxford Counties)
cdibble@ontariosoilcrop.org
519-788-0985
http://tvrscia.wordpress.com
@TVRSCIA on Twitter
Heartland Region – Anèl Dannhauser
In 2024, Heartland Soil and Crop Improvement Association, and its four county associations – Huron, Perth, Waterloo and Wellington – continued to show strength by offering a variety of events throughout the year. A big thank you to the Boards of Directors and volunteers for the ongoing commitment throughout the year!
Through a bit of a tumultuous 2023/2024, Heartland was thankful to have had Nancy Van Sas (the Golden Horseshoe RCC) as a stand-in RCC, taking care of the region until Anèl Dannhuaser was appointed in February 2024. At the end of 2024, the Heartland board of directors met and re-elected John Poel as provincial director, Jeff Strenzke (Waterloo) as chair and Keith Martin (waterloo) as vice-chair.
2024 saw a number of technological updates in Heartland, with the biggest one being a revamp of the Heartland website (https://heartlandsoilcrop.org/) and updates to our communication systems.
Huron SCIA was very busy in 2024, starting off with their AGM in January, hosting guest speaker Arjan van der Eijk who spoke about cybersecurity on the farm. This was followed by a great line-up over the summer and fall months, where they took part in the Ontario Forage Council’s event in Huron County in July, followed by a strip-till demonstration at the annual Plowing Match in August, and a drone seeding demonstration in September at the Huronview Demonstration Farm. The Ontario Soil Network also hosted a well attended event at the Huronview Demonstration Farm. The cover crop seeding demonstration is part of Huron SCIA’s three-year Grassroots Research project approved in mid-2024, which focusses on cover crops by looking at different treatments, crop types, rotations and seeding methods.
Waterloo SCIA held their AGM in January 2024 with Joanna Follings as their guest speaker, speaking about Learnings from the Great Lakes YEN project. Waterloo also welcomed a new secretary treasurer – Mary Feldskov, who was previously the Heartland RCC.
Wellington SCIA had their AGM in December 2023, with a great speaker lineup including Greg Stewart, Dr. Laura VanEerd, Dean Shantz and Deb Campbell. In July, they held a Twilight Event for both Wellington and Waterloo SCIA members, which was not only well attended but which resulted in a lively discussion. You can read up more about it on Heartland blog and in the Innovator article.
Heartland was awarded a Grassroots Research project in October 2023, which had its first field season in 2024. The project is focussed on the biological N fixation in soybeans. Trials are being undertaken at various research stations, with nine different treatments, and will continue for another two years under the Grassroots Research grant. The first year was a great success and it is anticipated that data will be available soon, which will be posted to the research page.
Heartland once again partnered with Golden Horseshoe SCIA to co-host the 2025 MidWest Agricultural Conference (MWAC) which took place at RIM Park, Waterloo in January. The 2025 conference focussed on understanding when, where, and how precision agronomy brings value to cropping, guiding attendees through the process of starting precision ag on their farms, expanding its use and optimizing data and decisions using validating techniques to ensure results are contributing to on-farm improvements.
Anèl Dannhauser
Heartland Regional Communications Coordinator
Georgian Central Region – Emily McKague for Grey Ag Services
The Georgian Central Soil and Crop Improvement Association is comprised of the Bruce, Dufferin, Grey and North Simcoe local associations. Grey Ag Services fills the Regional Communications Co-ordinator role for the region. Georgian Central held their AGM in April, where representatives from all four local associations gave updates on their plans for the year and discussed direction for the region. One notable motion that came of the meeting was to print and send hard copies of the regional newsletter to all members with the goal of increasing engagement. It was felt that virtual communications are often overlooked or lost in email inboxes, and that physical copies might have more impact. At this meeting it was also decided to move forward with organizing a regional bus trip which would tour several drainage innovation sites in Huron County as well as making a stop at Cowbell Brewery. Unfortunately registration for the tour was low and it did not go forward in the end.
Bruce County SCIA members helped to kick off the 2024 year by assisting with and attending Crops Day at Grey Bruce Farmers’ Week on January 9th. The group then held their held their AGM and Winter Meeting on January 18th, with presentations on nitrogen emissions, hay as a cash crop and a producer panel on managing on-farm data. The day provided a lot of valuable learning opportunity for members and included a catered meal as well. In April, Bruce County members participated with a station at the Roots of Bruce student education day, where children from Bruce County schools in grades 4 and 5 learn about agriculture and food production. On July 9th they hosted their annual Mystery Crop Tour with a bus to carry members between the “mystery” stops and an agronomist to guide discussion. The bus tour ended with a BBQ dinner at a member farm and was a resounding success as always.
Dufferin County began the year with uncertainty as to whether they would garner enough member support to fill their executive and continue running. An emergency meeting in April was very well attended with strong engagement from members who communicated clearly that they planned to carry the organization on. There was a lot of positivity felt from hearing their reasons for joining Soil and Crop and their commitment to the organization. Although they had a slow start to 2024, they look forward to proceeding with renewed energy and several ideas for new events in 2025.
Grey County’s year also began with their support of Grey Bruce Farmers’ Week’s Crop Day, and many members in attendance. In March, Grey SCIA held a directors meeting to plan activities for 2024. This was followed by their participation at Grown in Grey in April, an event which is Grey County’s equivalent to Roots of Bruce. Grey SCIA representatives spoke to roughly 500 children over two days about soil testing, fertilization and crop production. In July, Grey SCIA hosted their annual Crop Walk which was a resounding success. Highland Custom Farming welcomed participants to tour their equipment, elevators, and state of the art shop before heading out to the fields to look at soybeans, wheat, corn and cranberry beans. Roughly 100 people attended the day, making it a very memorable event! Grey SCIA finished out their year with their AGM and Winter Meeting on December 18th at the Durham Legion. They welcomed several guest speakers and a panel and had a very successful gathering.
North Simcoe had another active year, with a Seed and Feed show held in March. In July they held their 46th annual Summer Bus Trip which toured 46 people on stops all the way from St. Jacobs to Hamilton to Toronto and many locations in between. At the same time, a bus tour was set up locally for their members to see several farms and a vegetable packing operation in their area. They rounded out their year with a December AGM.
The region and all of its locals look forward to another engaging, educational year in 2025 with lots of opportunities to network, share ideas and talk crops!
Emily McKague on behalf of Grey Ag Services
Regional Communication Coordinator, Georgian Central Region
Golden Horseshoe Region – Nancy van Sas
Midwest Agricultural Conference – members of Golden Horseshoe worked closely with Heartland and OMAFRA staff to host the Midwest Agricultural Conference at RIM Park in Waterloo January 17, 2025. The theme Beyond the Hype: Making Sense of Precision Agriculture had 180 participants with 16 Trade Show sponsors represented.
County Activities
BRANT
January 31, 2025 Brant AGM & Winter Meeting. Topics included a keynote speaker discussing weather predictions including predictions for 2025 and tar spot.
HALDIMAND
August 29, 2024 Haldimand held a successful Drainage Day. The day focused on how water moves in Haldimand clay and solutions beyond just drainage tile.
January 21, 2025 Haldimand held their AGM &Winter Meeting in combination with Niagara Peninsula SCIA in Dunnville. Discussions included growing canola as an alternative crop and tar spot.
HALTON
Summer/Fall 2024 Began the Biosolids 3-year Research Grant.
January 22, 2025 Halton held a combined AGM and Winter Meeting with Peel featuring Biosolids and the result of the PurYield Research Trial.
HAMILTON-WENTWORTH
January 30, 2025 Hamilton-Wentworth AGM & Winter Meeting featuring the Yen project, growing canola and mental health awareness on the farm.
NIAGARA PENINSULA
January 21, 2025 Niagara Peninsula held their AGM jointly with Haldimand in Dunnville. Discussions included growing canola as an alternative crop and tar spot.
NORFOLK
June 25, 2024 Norfolk held a successful Irrigation Day in Port Burwell focusing on how water moves through very light sand soils. There were also demonstrations of the different types of irrigation systems available to producers.
January 30, 2025 Norfolk AGM dinner featured guest speakers discussing cyber attacks on your farm and how to reduce your risk. Announced at the dinner of a Grower’s Day on March 26th featuring Ian McDonald discussing Norfolk Compaction Day results and Irrigation Day highlights.
PEEL
January 22, 2025 Joint AGM and Winter Meeting with Halton featuring Biosolids use and PurYield plot results
East Central Region – Neil Moore
The ECSCIA began about 1964 and now includes Durham Region + Hope Township from Northumberland County, Peterborough, and Victoria (City of Kawartha Lakes) and Haliburton Counties, and York Region was added in 2001.
The Annual East Central Farm Show (43rd) was held in the Commonwell Exhibition Building, Lindsay fairgrounds on March 6,7. Attendance was about 80% of usual.
The County Soil & Crop Improvement Association memberships were promoted, and 133 memberships sold (about 70% of past due to price increase). Members get in free.
ECSCIA uses some of the Farm Show proceeds to provide scholarships (6 for 2014 to 2016, 3 for 2017, 9 for 2018, 6 for 2019, 12 for 2020 and 2021, 6 for 2022, 3 for 2023, 7 @$1500 for 2024), and up to $1100 for County SCIA and 4-H clubs in the East Central area to assist with projects. 21 4-H crop club members were supported at $50 each.
4 newsletters were sent to about 400 ECSCIA members and previous members. Over 80% only by email.
The East Central SCIA web site hosts newsletters, coming events, project information, and links updated to new information online https://regionalscia.org
Weather data from co-operators in the member counties including some from Quinte Region. Presented the data in newsletters and online https://regionalscia.org/weather-html/.
RCC attended County annual and director meetings, presented updates. Attendance still down from before pandemic.
Durham SCIA held a Planter Meeting with Jason Deveau speaking on tank clean out and drift plus speaker on planters (over 60 attending). Victoria SCIA had a Tour to Alliance Agri-Turf Fertilizer at Lindsay, then to Sunderland Co-op Fertilizer at Oakwood, and then to see a collection of Case tractors and memorabilia (over 60 attending). Peterborough SCIA joined with Trent U with a demo day at the Trent U farm (over 80 attending). York SCIA held their annual BBQ (over 150 attending). Howard Burkholder was presented with the Dr Terry O’Connor Award. And YSCIA sponsored a Bus Trip to the Ethanol plant in Havelock.
Neil Moore, Secretary-Treasurer, and RCC
East Central Region Soil & Crop Improvement Association
705-324-2594
nmoore361@gmail.com
Quinte Region – Jennifer Nash
The Quinte Soil and Crop Improvement Association covers Northumberland, Hastings/Lennox & Addington, and Prince Edward counties.
Events & Member Benefits
Annual General Meeting—April 2024
We discussed ongoing issues in Hastings/Lennox & Addington and added Northumberland’s Summer BBQ, AGM, and PEC’s AGM to the upcoming communications calendar. Members proposed several trials and research projects, forming a committee to oversee them. We also outlined plans for a planter and sprayer day, a mapping workshop, and a field day with a soil health specialist. Additionally, there was consideration of using investment interest to fund agricultural skills development instead of a traditional scholarship.
Hastings County Farm Show & Plowing Match—August 2024
We teamed up with the OSCIA Programs Department at the Hastings County Farm Show & Plowing Match in Stirling, ON. It was a great chance to engage with farmers and suppliers and to promote our upcoming Brew & Banter Day.
Brew & Banter Day—September 2024
Held at MacKinnon Brothers Brewing Co. in Bath, ON, this was Quinte’s big event for 2024, bringing together 86 farmers and industry professionals for a day of insightful learning, networking, and hands-on demonstrations. Co-sponsored by TCO Agromart and FCC, the event featured a well-rounded agenda.
The day began with a session by Chris Roelands, Honeyland Ag Services, on soil and plant tissue testing, featuring data from MacKinnon Bros.’ own fields. This direct connection to the host location made the insights particularly relevant.
When an unforeseen change in the agenda arose, the team quickly adapted by organizing a nitrogen management panel. Expert panelists Jim McComb, P.Ag, Peter Doris, OMAFA Environmental Specialist, Dr. Lee Briese, Chris Roelands, and Patrick O’Neil, CCA, facilitated by our Provincial Director Gord Speksnijder, sparked an engaging discussion that concluded with a Q&A session.
Steve Kell’s, Kell Grains, presentation on grain markets and global trends followed, offering insights on how market shifts affect local crop management. Farmers rated it highly, with many noting its practical value.
Attendees enjoyed MacKinnon Bros. beer with a locally sourced BBQ lunch. It was a great way to connect local farmers to the food and drinks we were enjoying.
After lunch, Ivan MacKinnon described the evolution of their family-owned farm and brewery. He gave us a tour of the brewhouse and described how they have innovated to produce beer using their own hops and barley.
The day wrapped up with an engaging in-field demonstration led by Dr. Lee Briese, a seasoned crop consultant from North Dakota. Dr. Briese is renowned for his dynamic presentations that make complex field management concepts accessible and memorable. During the demonstration, he illustrated the effects of cover crops on soil health, using soil and tissue data from the event location to illustrate practical applications. His hands-on approach and engaging style left a lasting impression on all attendees.
Feedback from attendees was overwhelmingly positive, with many expressing eagerness for future events.
Recruitment
Currently, we have 29 active members and 177 lapsed ones. Early in 2025, we’ll be focusing on renewing those lapsed memberships as local secretaries get familiar with the new membership platform.
Website
In 2024, we decided to archive our website due to low engagement and the need for a fresh start.
Social Media
We’re actively engaging on X (Twitter) with 234 followers, reposting relevant OSCIA tweets, and have recently launched a Facebook page to connect with members who prefer that platform. There’s plenty of room for growth on both channels, and we’re excited about expanding our reach.
Promotion
MailChimp remains a key tool for communication, with an average open rate of 67% and a click rate of 6%. Through seven campaigns, we’ve kept our members informed with updates from local, regional, and provincial levels.
Sponsorship
A big thank you to our sponsors, TCO Agromart Ltd. and Farm Credit Canada, for their support of events like Brew & Banter Day. We look forward to continuing these partnerships in the future.
Submitted by Jenn Nash
Regional Communications Coordinator, Quinte
QuinteSCIA@ontariosoilcrop.org, 705-991-3909
Eastern Valley Region – Tracy Myers
The Eastern Valley Soil and Crop Improvement Association is comprised of five counties: Stormont, Dundas, Glengarry, Prescott and Russell. Currently these counties have a combined membership of approximately 300 which includes those individuals who receive the quarterly newsletter The Innovator and bi-weekly Grassroots Matters, that is sent via email. While each of the five counties actively participate in their own activities there has been increased interest in moving forward with more regional activities which would ultimately involve a larger number of the membership. Eastern Valley was proud to have been able to provide OSCIA members and others within the agricultural community a day of education and demonstrations on Forage production. The Forage Expo event was held in St. Isidore in July, at the Haerle farm, and was an ultimate success. Although the weather was somewhat wet and dreary we were able to attract a large number of people who gathered to speak to industry representatives and view the latest and greatest in hay equipment and processing.
During 2024, Eastern Valley local associations were very keen to host a myriad of in-person events. Our Regional annual meeting, in 2024, included common reports delivered to the group with discussions on moving forward with interesting regional events.
Eastern Valley directors are continually working closely with our OMAFA Specialists, who are an important part of our regional team and support us in many ways.
During 2024, as Regional Communication Coordinator, I was also involved in the following:
- Communicating with the directorship of EVSCIA, to overview the past year’s successes and to continue with our mandate of creating a more visible regional association that will continue to work with the five counties.
- Promoted county annual meetings, and offered assistance to the local associations, where required and requested. This was valuable to aid in future planning.
- Supported our provincial newsletter, The Innovator, by writing articles of interest to the general membership
- Assisted with recruitment of membership as well as maintaining a master membership list from information provided by the local associations.
- Assisted with the organization and implementation of the Forage Expo event
- Participated in other communications as required by OSCIA
- Worked closely with our regional field representative to ensure that membership of Eastern Valley were aware of upcoming workshops.
- Investigated new sponsorship potential.
On behalf of the Eastern Valley Soil and Crop Improvement Association I would like to express my gratitude to the staff and directors of OSCIA and to OMAFRA staff who have assisted our region with their valuable input and support. We look forward to the ongoing communication in 2025.
Tracy Myers
Regional Communication Coordinator
Eastern Valley Soil and Crop Improvement Association
613-363-4119 (cell)
tracy.myers@live.com
Ottawa-Rideau – Barb Keith on behalf of Kelsey Banks
The Ottawa-Rideau region of OSCIA includes 6 local associations – Leeds, Grenville, Ottawa-Carleton, Renfrew, Frontenac, and Lanark.
2024 was another busy year for all associations with an added highlight of having the OSCIA Summer Event come to Leeds County in August.
On Day 1, 1st Vice-President Eleanor Renaud and her family hosted directors, staff and farmers to their farm, near Jasper. There was a panel discussion on cover cropping and a spray clinic. Leeds County Federation of Agriculture hosted a Taste of Success lunch where they celebrated LCFA’s award winners. There were displays from local farm equipment suppliers, a fence display and a local bee keeper as well as a kids zone. The day ended with a tour of Eleanor’s wetland project.
Day 2 was a bus tour around the area that included stops at Burnbrae Farms and Canadian Wollastonite.
Listed are some of the highlights held across the region:
Grenville – hosted their annual Farm Family Day at the Cooper Farm, near Cardinal with Peter Archer, of Maizeing Acres Inc, as a guest speaker
Joint Lanark/Ottawa Carleton Summer Field Day
Autonomous tractor, drone and See and Spray JD sprayer demonstrations at Jockbrae Farms, Ashton
Lanark – conducted a tillage trial on John Nanne’s farm – using no-till, mould-board plowed, Salford and Lemkin. Results yielded 81, 73, 74 and 74 bushels/acre, respectively.
Renfrew – cohosted a Farmers Breakfast with the local Federation of Agriculture and Beef Farmers and a Twilight meeting at the end of July where members visited Kurtis Black’s farm to learn about cover crops and grazing, the Armstrongs’ to see their sheep and pasture raised chicken farm and the last stop was at the Richards family new grain handling facility just outside of Renfrew.
Kelsey Banks, Secretary & Regional Communication Coordinator
Ottawa-Rideau Region Soil & Crop Improvement Association
613-295-9931
orrscia@gmail.com
Northeastern Ontario – NOFIA/Emily Seed
NOFIA has acted as the RCC for Northeastern Ontario since 2015. In this capacity, NOFIA has worked to improve awareness and access to OSCIA funding and submit content to The Innovator through the provincial office.
Activities:
- Assist in producing 4 issues of The Innovator and regional content for the Northeast landing page, meeting all applicable deadlines; article subjects included contained greenhouse systems, northern Ontario procurement, and rotational grazing.
- Worked with local associations to submit Collaborative Activities Grant (i.e., Temiskaming for annual crop tour.)
- Held the Northern Ontario Ag Conference in February 2024 with support from local SCIAs to facilitate technology transfer and networking, featuring various research projects taking place in the north.
- Attended several association events across the region, including AGMs and crop tours
- Maintained membership & mailing lists, updating upon receipt of district lists and assisting associations with the transition to the updated membership platform
NOFIA and the NEOSCIA are looking forward to another year in 2025, further improving our membership databases, building and strengthening agricultural communities within Northern Ontario through various events, and providing educational opportunities to farmers in the north. It has been a pleasure to work with the various associations over the last year and we look forward to 2025!
Emily Seed, NOFIA
RCC Northeastern Ontario
Northwestern Ontario – NOFIA/Rachel Kehoe
2024 has been an exciting year for our Soil & Crop Improvement Association locals. Our efforts have been focused on fostering communication, collaboration, and education within the northwest through a variety of activities, events, and projects.
Two articles were submitted to The Innovator, on tillage, tire optimization, and transition cows.
Events
Spring Farm Conference in Thunder Bay was held in Thunder Bay in late March 2024. The two-day event featured a variety of speakers on relevant topics to the northwest such as transition cows, tire optimization, forage quality & fiber digestions, grain handling and drying, and much more. The event provided an opportunity for participants to network with other producers and exhibitors, setting the stage for the upcoming 2025 event scheduled for April 9th & 10th.
Northwest International Ag Expo was held in Emo. The two-day event attracted 146 attendees and included interactive speaker sessions, educational opportunities, and a live soil compaction demonstration using the MSTS from Soil & Crop. The event also included a tour of the Ontario Crops Research Centre – Emo, and a crop and facility tour of the region. Overall, the expo was a great success, bringing in many agricultural experts from Ontario, Manitoba and Minnesota, creating collaboration between the locals of the region and showcasing agriculture in the northwest.
Grassroots research project: In partnership with NOFIA and Lakehead University, Dr. Brian McLaren completed year one of the three-year grassroots grant project. The project focuses on understanding the effects of rotational grazing on forage health, evaluating the impact of grazing practices on overall health and quality of forage crops; species diversity, investigating how rotational grazing influences the variety of plant species in pasture; and pasture utilization rate, assessing the efficiency of pasture use and identifying ways to optimize grazing patterns.
In summary, 2024 has been a productive and rewarding year for our region. As we look forward to 2025, we remain committed to fostering communication, innovation, and collaboration within our region.
Rachel Kehoe
Northwestern Ontario Regional Communication Coordinator
northwest.scia@gmail.com