Welcome to the 2023 IFAO Conference!

Robotic solutions are closer than you’d think. Hear all about the Ag Robotics Working Group, the robotics they’ve been testing out and what’s worked, what hasn’t, and why.

Effects On and Of Soil Biology – Economics & Agronomics: How do nitrogen inhibitors affect soil biology and how does soil biology affect nitrogen inhibitors?  With a focus on urease and nitrogen inhibitors, Lori will delve into how the make-up of nitrifiers in the soil is important for understanding when something is going to work and when it’s not. Mark has built some thoughtful 4R decision-making models.  He’ll crunch the economics of using nitrification inhibitors instead of adding more nitrogen and how he considers the volatility of market prices when coming up with a plan.

Grain Drying & Hydrogen – On-Farm Energy Generation – Feedstocks & Anaerobic Digestors: Fuel will get more and more expensive, but do the solutions on the table stack up to business as usual? We did a hydrogen feasibility study!  James will answer some of your questions about it when it comes to  grain drying and expand on how to reduce drying costs. To save on energy, you might have to get some skin in the game.  Chat with OMAFRA engineers and Laurie Stanton from Stanton Farms, who’s powering an impressive amount of homes in Ilderton! He’ll dive deep on the partnerships, infrastructure & opportunities that he’s built over 20 years of innovating and building this part of his business model.

Planting Green & Perennial Cover Crops – The Business of Cover Crops – Rotational Grazing – Cover Crops & Multi-species Cropping: Join the fantastic people of the soil network to talk just that – soil! They’ll lead you through a discussion that is sure to be aligned with your interests, because the first question is: what do you want to talk about? Dive into managing never ending living roots, chat about the business prop of cover crops, talk grazing, and dive in to 60″ corn, multi-cropping & cover crops as a way of packing more in to a rotation.

Mods, CTF & MOAR AXLES—chat through first step fixes & design elements to guide you to better equipment set-ups. Find the sweet spot between time savings & compaction prevention with design elements and ideas for equipment. Mark & Henry have been building their soil &improving profitability with mods – plan your own mods with them here. Join this panel to explore how to mod, sync and choose equipment for a smoother operation.

Organic Amendments & Soil Biology – Microplastics in Composts – Johnson Su Bioreactor Method & Lactobacillus Serums: Bio-based fertilizers use organic feedstocks to turn into nutrients that hit N&P targets while improving soil health—but they have to mean better profitability and reduced nutrient losses—how do they stack up? Hugh will dish out the details. Microplastics have been found in composts and biosolids—but what are they, how much is there, how to we reduce or remove them and what does their presence mean for soil? Adam will tell you everything he found in his research of microplastics in soils. And finally, Mike will dive into the Johnson Su compost method and LAB serum that he’s been making over the years and join Larry in talking through the tips and tricks of using them.

Selling Carbon Credits – Implications for Ontario Ag: It’s coming. interest in carbon markets is growing and you need to be ready. Get ahead of the trend and get ready to make the oncoming flood of carbon programs work for you and your goals. We’ll dive deep on carbon pricing, how credits are sold, where the money goes, charismatic credits (hint: that’s us), where the data goes, and how it will affect Ontario’s economy and ag sector. Strap in, because this one’s going to be a doozy.