Conservation leaders, scientists, farm leaders, fertilizer industry representatives, and provincial officials recently launched a unique rural-urban partnership that will protect water quality in the Grand River Watershed and support the sustainable intensification of agriculture in the region.
Funded by the Canadian Fertilizer Institute and the Ontario Centres of Excellence Social Innovation Program, the project will create a unique network or “cluster” to facilitate sharing of Beneficial Management Practice (BMP)guidelines associated with the 4R Nutrient Stewardship Program.
ClimateCheck will lead this partnership by deploying its Agri-Innovations solution that combines expertise in agriculture and sustainability with its online Collaborase tools to enable stakeholder collaboration and knowledge transfer.
“The 4Rs offer a framework to farmers as they implement BMPs to optimize fertilizer efficiency, which minimizes nutrient loss and leakage into the air and water,” said Norman Beug, chair of the Canadian Fertilizer Institute.
“The 4R approach maximizes farmer returns for every tonne of fertilizer used and allows farmers to quantify their practices to receive credits for ecological goods and services,” Beug said.
Ontario Federation of Agriculture vice-president, Keith Currie said, “the OFA is pleased to participate in this program as it complements the work farmers have initiated through the Environmental Farm Plan. The 4R fertilization recommendations integrated with other BMPs will build on the successes of prior work.”
In addition to the Canadian Fertilizer Institute and the Ontario Centres of Excellence, this project is supported by several partner organizations including, the OFA, the Grand River Conservation Authority, the University of Waterloo Water Institute, and Waterloo Region.
For more information and to become engaged about the project, please visit: www.collaborase.com/Farming4RWatershed
