Sustainable Agriculture in the Great Lakes Region

Conservation Integral to Great Lakes Agriculture


The great lakes region is home to some of the most fertile soil in both Canada and the United States, and that soil brings in substantial monetary benefits. But farming has the potential to endanger aquatic environments due to the phosphorus and extra sediment in agricultural runoff. Phosphorus is known to increase the production of harmful algae blooms that hurt both ecosystems and economies. The good news is that farmers, lawmakers, and environmental groups like the Sustainable Farming Association, The Nature Conservancy, and the Great Lakes Protection Fund know that conservation is key to a sustainable agricultural sector in the Great Lakes basin.


In Canada

On the Canadian side, a collaboration lead by the Ontario Federation of Agriculture, with funding from the Canadian Agricultural Partnership, is evaluating agricultural phosphorous in Lake Erie. They are testing the effectiveness of various methods to remove phosphorous and sediment from agricultural runoff as part of the Canada-Ontario Lake Erie Action Plan to reduce the amount of phosphorous entering Lake Erie by 40% by the year 2025.

Blackburnnews.com: Evaluating Agricultural Phosphorus


In the U.S.

Just last month, a new bipartisan farm bill that increased funding and implemented policy reforms to ensure that Great Lakes priorities were upheld in the U.S. agricultural sector was signed into law by the United States Federal Government. The Great Lakes Commission (GLC), who applauded the new farm bill, are now seeking proposals to gain a thorough understanding of how the past Great Lakes Restoration Initiative’s agricultural conservation investments have impacted the region, particularly in the Lower Fox, Saginaw, Maumee, and Genessee River watersheds where conservational investments were focused.

Proposal deadline is 5PM (EST) Friday March 22, 2019: Click Here for the full Request for Proposals document.

This socio-economic analysis is part of the GLC project titled Researching the Effectiveness of Agricultural Programs (REAP). The GLC will be awarding between $100,000 and $150,000 to an individual or team of qualified and informed researchers and/or organisations so that they can work with the GLC, Ohio State University, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to collect data between May and December 2019.


Agricultural Events Ramp Up

Although the soil remains frosty, agricultural conferences and events in the Great Lakes Basin are ramping up, especially due to Michigan State University’s 103rd Agriculture and Natural Resources week (March 3-8), which hosts a variety of speakers and events.

See below for a list of other agricultural events being hosted in the Great Lakes Basin in February and March:


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