Natural systems agriculture research group

LEAP: Leveraging Ecosystems to transform Agriculture on the Prairies

More information on the LEAP project can be found on the LEAP Website

Funder: Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) 

Collaborators: University of Saskatchewan, Canadian Centre of Agricultural Wellbeing, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Manitoba Agriculture, Keystone Agriculture Producers, National Farmers Union, Ducks Unlimited Canada, Nature United, Manitoba Beef Producers, Manitoba Forage and Grassland Association.

The Glenlea study, located in Treaty 1 territory and in the heart of the Red River Metis nation, was started in 1992. Annual grain and forage-grain crop rotations are conducted under both organic and conventional management. Nutrient recycling subplots are included in selected organic treatments with nutrients from both livestock, insect and urban sources. A large grassland (native species) plot is included in each of the three replicates. This unique feature allows arable farming systems to be compared with nature’s agriculture– grassland – and helps set the stage for future “Nature-based” farming systems. Soil and plant/grain samples collected from the Glenlea study are archived each year and are available for future analysis by our research team or by collaborators. We welcome collaboration so please contact us anytime!
 

Current collaborators: Dr. Mario Tenuta (UM Soil Science);  Dr. Xiaopeng Goa (UM Soil Science); Dr. Anniemieke Farenhorst (UM Soil Science)

Funders: Western Grains Research Foundation; the Organic Science Cluster; Agriculture and AgriFood Canada; the Prairie Oat Growers Association; and Grain Millers

Organic crop rotations require legumes or a ‘green manure’ to fix enough nitrogen to supply the non-legume crops in the rotation (ex. Wheat, oats, flax). However, this often requires an expensive rotation phase, ex. An annual green manure (Thiessen Martens and Entz, 2011) or when hayed off leading to excess phosphorus export, ex. Perennial alfalfa (Carkner et al., 2020). However, there is potential for relay-cropped late season legumes to fix enough nitrogen for the following crop (Cicek et al., 2014), but has not been investigated in combination with intercropping practices.

The purpose of this study is to compare nitrogen supply (and other co-benefits of legume intensification) within an organic grain production system. The main question is whether legume intensification can maintain higher productivity and ecological services in organic grain production when combined with greater crop diversity.

Initiated in 2024, the trial compares two different organic rotation treatments: basic system and high diversity system in a 3 replicate, fully phased design:

In 2025, we incorporated sheep into the green manure (spring and fall grazing) and the wheat (red clover), pea-oat intercrop (fall grazing) to examine the impact of grazing on nutrient cycling.

Researchers Involved: Sophia Partyka

Funders: NSERC-SSHRC Alliance Grant; Manitoba Organic Development Fund; RBC Scholars in Agriculture

This research will expand our knowledge of GHGs in organic production by measuring N₂0 emissions and soil C storage for wheat, oat and flax grown in a variety of organic and conventional production scenarios. This objective will be achieved through intensive measurements of soil carbon and N₂0 emissions in a long-term (30 year+) organic experiment located in southern Manitoba; the Glenlea study is the longest running organic field experiment in Canada. 

How much N₂0 is produced in these crops when grown organically compared with the side-by-side conventional treatments under different environmental conditions and in different crop rotations?

Collaborator: Dr. Mario Tenuta (UM Soil Science)

Funders: Organic Science Cluster 4; Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada; Grain Millers; Prairie Oat Growers Association.

A large project directed by the Canadian Food Grains Bank is taking place across Ethiopia, Kenya, Zimbabwe and Mozambique with the goal to rehabilitate damaged landscapes through nature positive practices including conservation agriculture, natural regeneration, water retention, and reforestation. Alongside Dr. Martin Entz, our lab is involved with multiple initiatives related to the project:

1. Initiate on-the-ground research trials with a particular focus on nature-positive interventions and track the impact on farm-scale as well as surrounding landscape biodiversity and soil health.
2. Monitoring the project with a particular eye to the ecosystem services provided by each landscape. The first aim of the GIS part of the project is a historical examination of land use and land change within each landscape over the last 30-40 years. Following this we intend to use current satellite data paired with on-ground biodiversity and soil health measurements, to pinpoint where practices are most effective.
3. Supply research support and meaningful engagement with local partners

Funder: Canadian Food Grains Bank

The Canadian participatory plant breeding program is a collaboration between farmers, plant breeders, and researchers along the breeding pipeline geared specifically for organic crop production. The main crops the PPB program focused on were wheat, oats, and potatoes. Principal activity took place between 2011 and 2020, with funding from the Canadian Organic Science Cluster II and III and the Bauta Family Initiative for Canadian Seed Security. Collaborating plant breeders were Dr. Stephen Fox (wheat), Dr. Jennifer Mitchell-Fetch (oat), Anne Kirk (wheat), Dr. Benoit Bizimungu (potato), and Dr. Duane Falk (potato). We are currently open to increasing wheat and oat seed for interested farmers, and incorporating the top performing wheat genotypes into the Glenlea long-term rotation trial. 

We have also submitted top-performing genotypes to Dr. Malalgoda in Food Science to test the populations for the baking quality.

A schematic illustration of the Canadian Participatory Plant Breeding (PPB) Program compared to a formal breeding program. Blue boxes represent work done on research stations, green boxes represent work done on farms by farmers, and red boxes represent a collaboration between researchers, breeders, and farmers. The green box demonstrates the genetic diversity of the plant material that results from formal breeding programs versus the Canadian PPB program. This figure was created using BioRender. Photo credits: Michelle Carkner. Source: Carkner, M.K. 2024. PhD Thesis.

Lastly, we've created an 'evolutionary population' from the early generation wheat crosses in the original PPB program generated by UM. Ten farmers across Canada have received a small amount to start their own evolutionary population on their own farms!