Ontario’s Agricultural Soil Health and Conservation Strategy Released

Ontario has a new strategy to help ensure the province’s agricultural soils remain healthy and productive for years to come.

The Agricultural Soil Health and Conservation Working Group worked for over two years to develop and hone the New Horizons: Ontario’s Agricultural Soil Health and Conservation Strategy. The working group sought input from experts drawn from provincial farm organizations, agri-food businesses, conservation organizations, the research community and government.

The strategy provides a long-term framework to guide collaborative soil health research, investments and activities until 2030. There are four theme areas to address the different aspects: Soil Management, Soil Data and Mapping, Soil Evaluation and Monitoring and Soil Knowledge and Innovation.

The goal of the soil management theme is “Soil management practices sustain and enhance soil health and productivity for economic, environmental and societal needs.” Some of the actions include the supporting the adoption of soil best management practices and providing incentives for soil care practices.

“Reliable soil data and tools are available to allow for informed decision-making and analysis by producers, industry, government and the public.” is the goal of the soil data and mapping theme. Actions include modernizing Ontario’s soil maps and inventory and making better use of precision agriculture data.