50 Years and 50 Harvests: What Long-Term Research Can Teach Us About the Future of Farming
Dr. Adrian Correndo stands at the intersection of legacy and innovation. The University of Guelph professor is the new custodian of long-term crop research plots at the Ontario Crops Research Centre in Elora, where researchers have evaluated Ontario-specific farming practices for half a century.
Published: July 22, 2025
Lead photo: Research plots at the Ontario Crops Research Centre in Elora.
At the site, the plant agriculture professor manages research to answer questions about crop management practices such as tillage (loosening the soil) and applying fertilizer. His vision is to unearth data that give growers confidence in making decisions about sustainability for their farms.
Time to learn from the past
The long-term trials are a living archive of agricultural practices dating back to 1975, funded by Government of Ontario investment in the site through its agency Agricultural Research and Innovation Ontario (ARIO). As one site in a province-wide network of research centres, the Elora facility delivers research results specific to local soils and climates.
Correndo arrived at U of G in 2023, taking over the plots just in time to see the centre’s longest-running trial—the Elora Management Trial—harvested for its 48th year. The trial aims to tease out the effects of varying tillage and residue removal approaches (what farmers do with post-harvest plant residues left on the field).
Crops on the plot rotate among corn and soybean. In 2025, its 50th year, soybean will be harvested for this trial and Correndo will assess carbon in the soil profile (an indicator of soil health) that reflects different management approaches.
While designing rigorous experiments that test real-world scenarios is important, having the space and time to run them is even more so, says Correndo.
“It’s very uncommon to have a trial like this for 50 years,” he says. “The effects of a certain decision might only become apparent during the next rotation of a certain crop. For example, the trials have shown that planting winter wheat positively impacts the next rotation of soy, which isn’t planted and harvested until two years later.
“Farmers don’t have years to check if a combination is good enough.”
Peter Johnson, agronomist with RealAgriculture and former extension specialist with the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Agribusiness, has seen how long-term trials have influenced Ontario cropping norms.
“These trials have given Ontario farmers critical knowledge to help increase yields and make their soils more resilient under adverse weather conditions,” says Johnson. “The power of this knowledge has set Ontario growers apart in their understanding and practical application of rotation, residue management and tillage practices.”
Ontario’s agri-food research centres are owned by the Government of Ontario through its agency Agricultural Research and Innovation Ontario (ARIO) and are managed by the University of Guelph through the Ontario Agri-Food Innovation Alliance.
Growing Research for the Future
Thanks to evolving technology and skill sets, decades-old data from long-term trials can provide new insights.
For example, Correndo says machine learning can be applied to analyze past years’ performance to predict future results. The models still need work, partly to accommodate a changing climate, but he says the future is promising.
“We predict based on scenarios, and we need a massive data set—thousands of data points—to train models and evaluate prediction/forecast performance,” he says.
To automate the process of on-farm experimentation, his team is also collaborating on a platform with the University of Illinois called Data Intensive Farm Management. And, over the years, they can collect more on-farm data from distinct locations to improve its predicting ability.
Students Will Drive the Future of Technology
Correndo says students are the source of much-needed innovation in the sector.
Agricultural applications of modern technology such as drones and high-resolution imagery might attract young people, but Correndo says students also need the ability to “digest” the data these technologies produce.
”Students are the backbone of our future. I want to give my students the necessary tools to excel in managing agronomic data,” he says. “I believe we need professionals skilled in analytics, because farmers are stewards of the land, but advisers and agronomists need to be stewards of the data.”
The Elora trials and similar trials at the Ontario Crops Research Centre site in Ridgetown lead to Ontario-specific solutions. See some of the results in the infographic series Crop Rotation Counts.
Getting Results Into the Field
Drawing on his extension experiences in Latin America and at Kansas State University, Correndo knows farmers will make decisions that work best for their individual situations.
“We want to provide farmers with models based on different levels of risk and then let them make the decision,” he says.
Correndo is working with Dr. Michelle Edwards, director of Agri-Food Data Canada at U of G, to make long-term trial data more widely available. They aim to make those data easier to filter and download “with a click.”
Toward a Sustainable Future
Correndo holds the Pick Family Chair in Sustainable Cropping Systems at U of G, but he emphasizes that he is not trying to “enlighten” anyone about any single definition of sustainability. “It depends on financial context of the farmer,” he says.
“No-till farming is associated with less erosion and more carbon in the system—both good things for farms—but these practices need to be economically sustainable as well.
“Generally, a sustainable system is one that will keep reasonable productivity that sustains the economy of the community—taking care of the soil without polluting the water or the air. How we will achieve this will be case-by-case.”
In assessing this year’s Elora harvest, Correndo and his team will extend decades-long studies of how different management practices affect soil carbon profiles. This knowledge is crucial for developing methods that enhance soil fertility and reduce carbon emissions, ultimately leading to a more sustainable future.
As with earlier researchers, Correndo uses trial results to answer farmers’ questions about minimizing risks while generating healthy harvests and profits, both today and in the future.
“I’m really keen to see what I can bring to the Ontario community,” says Correndo. “The research I do is applied, not abstract. I try to answer farmers’ questions directly.”
This research is funded by the Ontario Agri-food Research Initiative (OAFRI) and the Ontario Agri-Food Innovation Alliance, a collaboration among the Government of Ontario, its agency Agricultural Research and Innovation Ontario (ARIO) and the University of Guelph.
