Seedy Business
This is the most common cover crop used in Ontario, valued for its nitrogen-fixing abilities.
What is red clover?
Farmers who plant cover crops may save money over time by reducing the need for these synthetic inputs.
What are fertilizers and pesticides?
The federal-provincial cost-shared program that supports on-farm environmental practices is known by this acronym.
What is S-CAP (Sustainable Canadian Agricultural Partnership)?
Roots from cover crops help increase this soil property, important for preventing compaction.
What is soil organic matter (or soil structure)?
This is the top field crop grown in Ontario by area, often rotated with soybeans and wheat.
What is corn (maize)?
Cover crops can help reduce this type of soil loss, which is a major concern for some farmland across Canada.
What is erosion?
In cost–benefit analysis, the practice of comparing future costs and returns in today’s dollars is called this.
What is discounting?
Canada’s agricultural policy frameworks typically run on this length of time before renewal.
What is 5 years?
The living community of organisms in the soil is called this.
What is the soil microbiome?
This Great Lake forms part of Ontario’s southern agricultural heartland and provides critical irrigation water.
What is Lake Erie?
Mixing legumes and grasses as cover crops improves this process that helps plants access nutrients.
What is nutrient cycling?
Cover cropping can improve this soil property, which reduces long-term costs of irrigation.
What is water retention/infiltration?
The Paris Agreement set global climate goals for the year 2030. The long-term global target year is this.
What is 2050?
Cover crops can provide critical habitat for these beneficial insects that support pest control.
What are pollinators or natural enemies (like predatory insects)?
The majority of Ontario farms are concentrated in this fertile landform that stretches from Niagara to Toronto.
What is the Golden Horseshoe (or Ontario’s Greenbelt)?
Winter cereals like rye are popular cover crops because they survive this Canadian season.
What is winter?
In Ontario, the upfront costs of adopting cover crops typically include these two main categories.
What are seed and equipment/labour costs?
Canada’s Agricultural Climate Solutions program funds research and Living Labs for practices like cover cropping. It runs for this many years.
What is 10 years (2021–2031)?
Deep-rooted cover crops like radish help improve this process by breaking up hardpan layers.
What is subsoil aeration (or soil penetration/compaction alleviation)?
Ontario is home to Canada’s largest livestock sector for this product, protected under supply management.
What is milk?
Cover crops are considered a “nature-based solution” because they provide these three broad benefits at once.
What are environmental, social, and economic benefits?
Over a 20-year horizon, cover crops can generate positive returns mainly by lowering this category of costs linked to degraded soils.
What are yield losses?
Long-term adoption of soil health practices aligns with the UN’s global agenda called this.
What are the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)?
Increasing biodiversity, soil health, and water management on farmland contributes to this kind of resilience, key to adapting to climate change.
What is environmental resilience?
Ontario has programs that pay farmers to adopt practices that protect soil, water, and biodiversity on their land. These programs are often called this type of agriculture.
What is sustainable agriculture?