Videos

They say a picture is worth a thousand words…well then a video can also be a good way to learn about SOILs research. Here we have some videos produced by Soils At Guelph, as well as those produced by the University of Guelph and broader media-community featuring SOILs researchers.

Armour Your Soil

Don’t bet the farm! This video features two of Ontario’s own agricultural specialists learning about the dangers of leaving soil unprotected – and having a bit of fun along the way.

Business Case for Soil Health

Short and to the point, these 5 videos feature Ontario Farmers who’ve been able to see how their investments in Soil Health make good business sense. For more ways farmers make soil health work, check out our Soil Health and Economics Factsheets.

Cooking With Covers Series

This is a three part video series produced by Soils At Guelph is meant for growers who might be thinking about using cover crops in their farming system. It follows the advice: keep it simple, make it pay, and don’t go it alone.

Soil Health Research Series

These 4 videos below feature some of the state-of-the-art SOILs research happening at the University of Guelph.

Learning From Soil with Lysimeters – Featuring water and nutrient balance research which helps us to understand greenhouse gas emissions from agricultural systems.
Sustaining the Living Soils – Featuring soil microbiology research so we can better understand soil “ecosystem services” in different agricultural production systems.
Digital Soil Mapping – Featuring digital soil mapping research and development, comparing soil maps vs. digital soil mapping, for spatial farm management systems.
Capturing Carbon in the Soil – Featuring carbon sequestration research in agriculture, and on-farm beneficial management practices (BMPs) of reducing tillage and general soil disturbances, integrating livestock into cropping systems, and enhancing diversity at every aspect of the farm system.

Even MORE Videos featuring SOILs researchers and initiatives

Biostrip Research Across Ontario: Biostrip and tillage management research helps us to understand the effects of these management practices on corn nitrogen capture and yield. Biostrips are a practice of growing cover crops in strips to create a good seedbed before planting.
When More Isn’t Better: Balancing Efficiency And Resilience In Agriculture: Roger L. Martin and Mel Luymes lays out the design principals for achieving a balance between efficiency and resilence in agriculture, and a panel discussion with agri-food industry leaders.
Developing an Ontario Soil Information System | Asim Biswas: Dr. Asim Biswas is developing sensors and sensing techonology to digitally map soils.
What’s the matter with red clover? – VIDEO SUMMARY: Research suggests that increaseing red clover seeding rates, tillage, and widening winter wheat row spacing may improve success with interseeding red clover into winter wheat
Organic No-Till Soybean Production in Ontario: Jake Munroe explains the ins and outs of an organic and no-till system, terminating with a roller crimper, results from 2019 and lessons learned for those interested to try it themselves
Constructing the Lysimeter Infrastructure: What does it take to create a soil lysimeter? How was the Soil Health Interpretive Centre built?

Videos featuring UofG faculty

These videos were produced by the ag-media community and feature SOILs researchers.

Save our Soils: Soil is the foundation of Earth’s biodiversity and our food supply, but its health is rapidly degrading around the world. The Water Brothers meet with scientists and farmers across Ontario who are dedicated to regenerating the health of soils and using more sustainable forms of agriculture
Pour une agriculture plus verte: La culture de couverture est une pratique agricole durable qui est de plus en plus populaire chez les cultivateurs. Elle permet notamment de lutter contre l’érosion et de réduire le recours aux pesticides. Le concept est simple : on maintient une couverture végétale au sol toute l’année en semant différentes plantes qui vont protéger et nourrir la terre.
How a different approach to farming is helping fight climate change: A different approach to farming called regenerative agriculture is growing in popularity as a way to simultaneously reduce carbon emissions and improve soil.
Soil School: Putting a value on cover crops and soil health: What type of return on investment do farmers realize when they make a long-term commitment to planting cover crops on their farm?
The impact of Cover Crops in a Processing Vegetable-Grain Cropping System in Ontario, Canada: Anne Verhallen talks with Dr. Laura Van Eerd about Dr. Van Eerd’s long-term cover crop trial in a processing vegetable-grain cropping system at the University of Guelph-Ridgetown Campus. The trial was established in 2007 and 2008.
Research frontiers for agricultural riparian buffers: Riparian buffers improve water quality, reduce erosion, and prevent agricultural run-off. Researchers are continuing to study the impacts on riparian buffers on soil health and greenhouse gas emissions.
Corn School: Splitting nitrogen for profitability and for the environment: Splitting nitrogen in a corn crop can increase profitability and benefit the environment, but to be successful on both counts growers need to keep a sharp eye on the weather.
4. Reducing Nitrous Oxide Emissions with Intercropping video: Canadian researchers are quantifying how tree-based intercropping reduces greenhouse gas emissions in farm fields.
Carbon benefits of riparian buffers on farms:Robert Shuh farms in Elmira, Ontario, shares how practices have changed on his farm over the last few decades. Guelph researchers Dr. Naresh Thevathasan and Enoch Ofosu discuss how riparian buffers can capture carbon in the agricultural landscape.
Long-term soil health and climate solutions of riparian buffers: Liz and Reg Samis share their experience in riparian restoration on their farm near Parker, Ontario. University of Guelph Soil microbiology researchers Kari Dunfield and Tolu Mafa-Attoye talk about how riparian zones can help sequester carbon in the rural landscape.