Building Regenerative Soil Field Day

Soil health is a huge part of climate-friendly agriculture. Healthy, regenerative soils have the capacity to capture carbon, increase water retention, and eliminate the need for chemical inputs, all beneficial for the future of our climate. Building regenerative soil can improve yields, produce good quality crops and reduce input costs, all results that are beneficial to farmers. This field day discusses the biology of healthy soils and, techniques to transition your soil into one that is mutually beneficial for both our climate and crop production on your farm.

This event takes place at Cropthorne Farm, a certified organic vegetable farm dedicated to maintaining healthy and regenerative soils. The field day is 3 hours long and includes a number of guest speakers, a tour of the farm, and a discussion on healthy soils with other farmers.

Field Day Host: Lydia Ryall has always had a passion for farming, obtaining her BSc in Agriculture and starting Cropthorne in 2009. She is involved with the Delta Farmers Institute, the Lower Mainland Horticultural Improvement Association and sits on the Agricultural Advisory Committee for the City of Delta. In 2014, Lydia won BC’s Outstanding Young Farmer.

Guest Speaker: Dru Yates is a consultant with ES Cropconsult where she works with growers throughout the Fraser Valley on Integrated Pest Management (IPM) and nutrient management. She has an M.Sc. in Soil Science from UBC and is passionate about agricultural extension and outreach.

Guest Speaker: Amy Norgaard is completing her MSc in Soil Science in the Sustainable Agricultural Landscapes lab at UBC. The goal of her research is to help organic farms meet their goal of producing food with a reduced environmental impact through enhanced nutrient management. She is a Professional Agrologist and teaches sustainable soil management with the KPU – Tsawwassen First Nation Farm School.

As this field day took place on a farm, background noise was unavoidable. We have ensured the accessibility of the closed captions option on our youtube videos to be used at the viewer’s discretion. To turn on closed captions, simply click “cc” at the bottom right-hand side of the video.

Video 1: Dru Yates

Video 2: Amy Norgaard

Video 3: Lydia Ryall + Questions from farmers