Session #1: Enhancing Biodiversity in Agroecosystems

Chair: Dr. Christy Morrissey

Format: Oral and Poster presentations

Agricultural intensification is a process which results in decreasing structural complexity of the landscape mosaic and a simplification of many natural systems, such as biogeochemical cycles and trophic food chains, and an increased reliance on pesticides and other agrochemicals. These intensive production practices are designed to increase yield but frequently cause unintended negative effects on ecosystem health including losses of biodiversity (eg. pollinators, birds).  Specific farming practices may improve biodiversity and agroecosystem function in agricultural landscapes through integrated approaches that better protect or enhance ecosystem services and environmental quality.  Equally, higher biodiversity may offer mutual benefits to farmers by enhancing production in crop and livestock systems. We are seeking abstracts for research, policies and concepts that offer solutions for enhancing biodiversity in crop and livestock systems or that gain a better understanding of the interactions between biodiversity and agricultural production at multiple spatial scales (field to landscapes).

Session #2: Enhancing Soil health and Soil Carbon on the Farm

Chair: Angela Bedard-Haughn

Format: Oral and Poster presentations

Soil health has been touted as a way to mitigate the impacts of extreme weather on agricultural productivity. Given the many functional improvements attributed to soil organic matter, such as enhanced water and nutrient retention, reduced erosion risk, greater soil biodiversity, and improved structure, soil carbon is widely acknowledged as one of the key indicators of soil health. As a result, increasing soil carbon stocks is a common goal for agricultural producers around the world. We are seeking contributions that explore how carbon can be added to Canadian soils, what role carbon plays in furthering soil health, and what new soil health components can be measured and better managed across different production systems.

Session #3 Solutions for Climate Change: Mitigating Greenhouse Gas Production in Agriculture

Chairs: Roland Kroebel and Christy Morrissey

Format: Posters and Invited speakers/panelists

Climate change is forecasted to increase temperatures more in northern latitudes, which has and will continue to have notable effects in Canadian agriculture and beyond. This is on the one hand positive, as growing season length continues to expand, but also poses more risks as heat stress, pests and weeds that threaten production. Equally, both crop and livestock production systems have an important role to play in reducing their carbon footprint and becoming more sustainable. Mitigating greenhouse gas production through strategies that offset, slow down or reverse the trend in GHG production will require concerted efforts throughout Canada’s agricultural sector.  Here we take a solutions-oriented approach, fostering conversations among producers, producer groups, policymakers, and researchers on livestock and grain farming practices, policies and other strategies that have been proven or are expected to move Canadian agriculture closer to carbon neutrality, while continually adapting to a changing environment. In addition, we are seeking abstracts that identify ongoing research needs and identify questions that will help support the transition towards more sustainable production systems.

Session #4: Solutions for Climate Change: Water Management for Agroecosystem Resilience to Climatic Extremes

Chairs: Helen Baulch and Henry Wilson

Format: Posters and Invited speakers/panelists

Climate change provides complex risks, and potential opportunities for Canadian agriculture.  Changing maximum temperatures, altered seasonality of precipitation, and increased frequency of extremes in water availability including drought and flooding, all have the potential to impact agriculture.  There is the urgent need to foster resilient agroecosystems, but how to do so, in the light of changing environmental, economic, and social drivers remains a key challenge. Collectively, producers and policymakers can work together to foster economic stability, food security, water quality, and water security.   Here we take a solutions-oriented approach, fostering conversations among producers, producer groups, policymakers, and researchers, on water management or on-farm practices with high potential to maintain food production while also benefiting downstream aquatic systems under extremes of soil moisture or water availability.  In addition, we are also interested in identifying ongoing research needs and where questions remain about how to help support agricultural productivity in a changing climate for decades and centuries to come.  We are seeking abstracts that characterize how climate change will affect producers and alter the water resources in agriculture to technical approaches and policy options to foster resilient water management systems in light of changing climate.