Summit on Canadian Soil Health 2021: Healthy Soil – Healthy Planet

Virtual Event – November 16th, 17th & 18th, 2021

Summit Overview

SCCC hosts a national Summit on Canadian Soil Health every two years. In the past, the Summits have concentrated on scientific, technical, and practical solutions to soil health challenges. The title of the 2021 Summit on Canadian Soil Health was Healthy Soil – Healthy Planet.

During the 3-webinar series we examined the types of benefits we can expect from healthy soil, how we can improve our collective skills in managing for soil heath and finally, how we monitor, measure, and communicate the state of soil health in Canada.

Summit Agenda

Day 1: Soils Are The Solution (Tuesday, November 16th, 2021)

Healthy soil offers us solutions in key areas such as climate change, water and air quality, biodiversity, and profitability of farms in Canada.

The focus of this session was learning more from expert speakers about the nature and extent of benefits the benefits healthy soils bring to us, and that go beyond producing food. fibre and fuel. We also dove into real life examples presented by farmers who generate those benefits from their land.

Message from our Summit Champion Sponsor, Syngenta Canada Inc.
Tara McCaughey, Head of Technical Services, Syngenta Canada Inc.

Environmental Benefits of Soil Health
- Wayne Honeycutt , Soil Health Institute
The Power of Soil: Increasing Practice Adoption with Learning, Incentives and Economics
- Paul Smith and Dr. Aaron DeLaporte
Our Soil Influences Society’s Brain Health
- Dr Bonnie Kaplan, University of Calgary
Making Cents from Amendments
- Lise LeBlanc, LP Consulting

Day 2: Building Excellence (Wednesday, November 17th, 2021)

Building Excellence in Soil Health through ongoing training and support will enable Canadian farmers and agricultural professionals to build and maintain soil health.

On Day 2, we looked at existing training and support systems for soil health within Canada and at future opportunities to build skills that help us manage soil health.

Greetings from Senator Rob Black

Climate Smart Soils Training and Education
- Claudia Wagner-Riddle, University of Guelph School of Environmental Sciences, Guelph, ON
How 4R Nutrient Stewardship Programs Support Soil Health
- Kelsey Hill, Fertilizer Canada
Panel with 4-H youth hosted by Syngenta Canada
- Emily Robb, Brandon, MB
- Brett Rumpel, Craven, SK
- George Meggison, Manitoba
Improving Soil Health on Prince Edward Island Potato Farms
- Ryan Barrett, Prince Edward Island Potato Board

Day 3: Showing the Proof (Thursday, November 18th, 2021)

Showing the proof of the benefits of healthy soils provides the business case for supporting farmers and agricultural professionals in order to build soil health. This session looked at the tools we need to measure and communicate the benefits produced by healthy soils in Canada.