Special Initiatives Projects

Improvement of Ontario hazelnut cultivars focusing on winter hardiness and pest tolerance, with an emphasis on management of Eastern Filbert blight

Lead Applicant: John Zandstra

Research Priority: Plant Health & Protection - Performance Measurement

Program Type: Special Initiatives

Funding Cycle: 2019/2020

Research Centre: Ontario Crops Research Centre - Cedar Springs, Ontario Crops Research Centre - Huron, Ontario Crops Research Centre - Simcoe

Advancing Strip Tillage for Vegetable Production

Lead Applicant: John Zandstra

Research Priority: Soil Health - Environmental Impacts of Management Practices

Program Type: Special Initiatives

Funding Cycle: 2019/2020

Research Centre: N/A

Braiding food systems: Co-constructing Indigenous seed systems in Northern Ontario for food sovereignty, security, and climate adaptation

Lead Applicant: Silvia Sarapura

Research Priority: Sustainable Production Systems

Program Type: Special Initiatives Projects

Funding Cycle: 2023/2024

Research Centre: NA

Establishing an Ontario food panel: Tracking public attitudes and behaviour post-COVID-19

Lead Applicant: Spencer Henson

Research Priority: Trade, Market & Targeted Sector Growth Opportunities

Program Type: Special Initiatives Projects

Funding Cycle: 2021/2022

Research Centre: N/A

The effects of Three Sisters on pollinator diversity, abundance and the related effects on plant health and crop yield

Lead Applicant: Joshua Nasielski

Research Priority: Sustainable Production Systems

Program Type: Special Initiatives Projects

Funding Cycle: 2021/2022

Research Centre: Ontario Crops Research Centre – Emo & New Liskeard

Examining need, capacity, and barriers to accessing food animal veterinary services in underserved areas of rural Ontario

Lead Applicant: Sara Epp

Research Priority: Animal Health & Welfare

Program Type: Special Initiatives Projects

Funding Cycle: 2020/2021

Research Centre: NA

Research Summary: Identifying agricultural communities in Ontario underserviced by food animal veterinarians and examining the barriers to attracting and retaining food animal veterinarians to these areas.

 

Requirements for increasing pasture utilization and developing benchmarked targets for ruminant production systems for Ontario

Lead Applicant: Kim Schneider

Research Priority: Competitive Production Systems

Program Type: Special Initiatives Projects

Funding Cycle: 2020/2021

Research Centre: Ontario Crop Research Centre- New Liskeard & Elora

Research Summary: Calibrating the rising plate meter, a standard piece of equipment to measure pasture biomass, and using it to improve Ontario pasture usage.

 

A global evaluation of modern meat inspection regulation standards

Lead Applicant: Lawrence Goodridge

Research Priority: Food Safety

Program Type: Special Initiatives Projects

Funding Cycle: 2020/2021

Research Centre: NA

Research Summary: Comparing the Canadian approach to meat and poultry inspection standards with other jurisdictions around the world.

 

Garlic germplasm and clean seed production

Lead Applicant: Rebecca Hallett

Research Priority: Plant Health & Protection

Program Type: Special Initiatives Projects

Funding Cycle: 2020/2021

Research Centre: Ontario Crops Research Centre- New Liskeard

Research Summary: Improving disease-free garlic seed production efficiency in Ontario.

 

Farmland values and farmland rents data for Ontario

Lead Applicant: Brady Deaton

Research Priority: Productive Land Capacity

Program Type: Special Initiatives Projects

Funding Cycle: 2020/2021

Research Centre: NA

Research Summary: Developing a website to help farmers access information about farmland markets in Ontario.