NOFIA Projects
Below is a summary of projects completed by NOFIA. For more Northern Ontario research, visit our agricultural information hub FarmNorth.com.
2024 - 2026
Effect of Rotational Grazing Implementation at the Thunder Bay Community Pasture
Assessing the impact of rotational grazing implementation at the Thunder Bay Community Pasture on soil health, fertility and biodiversity.
Partners: OSCIA, MITACS, Lakehead University
2025
2025 Northern Ontario Farm Innovation Alliance Strategic Planning
Evaluating NOFIA's work and determining a path forward for the next 5 years, supporting agriculture in Northern Ontario.
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2024
Northern Ontario Student Bus Trip to the University of Guelph
Bringing students from high schools in the districts of Temiskaming and Cochrane to explore the Ontario Veterinary College and Ontario Agriculture College programs to encourage students to return to practice in the north, addressing the critical shortage of veterinary care in regions in the northeast.
Partners: University of Guelph, FCC, Beef Farmers of Ontario, Northern Producer Animal Health Network
2023 - 2026
Strengthening Food Systems in Northern Ontario through Value-Chain Coordination
Assessing current agri-food assets in Northern Ontario and their production and wholesale capacity, and building connections with northern institutions to build relationships and increase northern-produced food access in northern markets.
Partners: OMAFRA, AAC, College Boreal, Genevieve Sartor
2023 - 2025
Northern Ontario Veterinary Capacity Pilot Project
Develop a framework based on the recommendations of the 2022 University of Guelph report to enable registered veterinary technicians to respond to calls on farms with remote support from large animal veterinarians.
Partners: Ontario Association of Veterinary Technicians, Temiskaming Vet Services, College of Veterinarians of Ontario
2022-2023
FarmNorth.com Revitatlization
FarmNorth.com is a central information hub for agri-food in Northern Ontario, including district profiles and a research database, managed by NOFIA. NOFIA is currently updating information and revitalizing the web platform to increase user-friendliness and relevancy of information.
Partners: Ontario Agri-Food Research Initiative - Knowledge Translation & Transfer
2022
Agricultural Labour Attraction Strategy for the FNETB Region
An initiative led by the Far Northeast Training Board (FNETB) to showcase agriculture as a viable career and business option in the districts of Temiskaming and Cochrane, creation of a promotional video to highlight opportunities in agriculture.
Partners: Far Northeast Training Board, City of Temiskaming Shores, OMAFRA, Northeast Community Network, MND, FedNor
2022
Horticulture Technology Roadmap for Reducing Labour Chlallenges in Northern Ontario
Development of a technology roadmap to communicate the short-, mid- and long-term outlook for horticulture crop production in Northern Ontario.
Partners: Vineland Research & Innovation Centre
2022
Watershed Characterization of Agricultural Activities - Lake of the Woods Basin
An environmental scan of agricultural activities and management practices in the Canadian portion of the Rainy River-Lake of the Woods Basin
Partners: Environment & Climate Change Canada
2021-2022
Expanding ConnectON to Northern Ontario
Developing an understanding of agricultural assets across Northern Ontario by gathering data and creating a map to quickly identify gaps and opportunities in the agri-food supply chain.
Partners: Golden Horseshoe Food & Farming Alliance, Northern Policy Institute, Canadian Agricultural Partnership
2021-2022
Winter Barley Survivability
Assessing winter barley as a cover crop (establishment, winter survivability, yield potential) in northern climates
Partners: University of Guelph
2021
Fields to Forks: Northeastern Ontario
NOFIA coordinated a Fields to Forks campaign to showcase the importance of agriculture in Northern Ontario during the pandemic. The campaign was promoted through digital, radio and television and highlighted various farming operations in Northeastern Ontario.
Partners: Ontario Federation of Agriculture, Bioenterprise, CTV
2021
Priaxor Fungicide on Alfalfa Trial
An assessment of the effect of Priaxor fungicide product, intended to protect Alfalfa against fungal leaf diseases.
Partners: West Nipissing/East Sudbury Soil & Crop Improvement Association, TECC Agriculture LTD
2020 - 2023
End-of-Life Management for Agricultural Plastics in Northern Ontario
Based on a 2018 study outlining the volume of agricultural plastics used in Northern Ontario and possible disposal frameworks, this pilot project installed plastic compactors across the north on-farm to aggregate agricultural plastics, partnering with end-users and shipping plastic to these end-users for recycling and determining the feasibility of the pilot framework long-term.
Partners: Ontario Federation of Agriculture Northern Caucus, Canadian Agricultural Partnership (OAFRI), ICAMP, WEST
2020 - 2021
Barriers to OSCIA-Delivered Program Partnership Participation in Northern Farming Communities
Study of the barriers to OSCIA-delivered program partnership participation in Northern Ontario, gathering insight into why there is lower uptake across the north of these programs and development of recommendations to create better program access.
Partners: Canadian Agricultural Partnership, Ontario Soil & Crop Improvement Association
2020 - 2021
COVID-19 and the Agricultural Sector in Northern Ontario
Study of the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the agricultural industry in Northern Ontario to identify challenges and opportunities, as well as help make informed recommendations on future projects and initiatives.
Partners: Collège Boréal, ReThink Green, Greater Sudbury Food Policy Council, Rural Agri-Innovation Network
2019 - 2026
Which Approach Makes the Most Cents? Evaluating the Effects of Land Conversion Practices on Soil Health and Yields of Barley and Oats
Building on NOFIA's previous land clearing study, this project focusses on methods to quickly increase yields of barley and oat crops while evaluating soil health impacts from different land clearing methods.
Partners: Grain Farmers of Ontario, NSERC, Lakehead University
2019 - 2025
Sustainable New Agri-Food Products & Productivity (SNAPP) Program
NOFIA assists in the promotion and delivery of the SNAPP program contracted to cover Muskoka, Nipissing, Sudbury, Parry Sound, Cochrane, and Temiskaming
Partners: RAIN, Northwestern Innovation Centre, FedNor
2019 - 2022
EFAO Northern Outreach
Assisting the Ecological Farmers' Association of Ontario in expanding their programming to Northern Ontario. NOFIA is contracted to cover Cochrane & Temiskaming districts.
Partners: EFAO, FedNor
2019 - 2021
Livestock Emergency Preparedness Along the Highway 11 Corridor
Development of an emergency livestock response plan and delivery of training workshops to first responders of municipalities located along the highway 11 corridor from North Bay to Thunder Bay
Partners: Canadian Agricultural Partnership, Northern Producer Animal Health Network, Collège Boréal
2018 - 2022
Effects of AgTiv Mycorrhizal Inoculant on Potato and Cereal Crops
Determining the impacts of mycorrhizal inoculants on soil health, plant health, and crop yield in potato and cereal crops.
Partners: West Nipissing/East Sudbury and Sudbury Soil & Crop Improvement Associations, Northeastern Ontario Soil & Crop Improvement Association, Collège Boréal, TECC Agriculture Ltd., Valley Growers
2018 - 2020
Improving Malting Barley Yields & Quality in Northern Climates
Assessing several varieties of malting barley relative to location-specific needs in Northern Ontario, determining optimum rates of nitrogen and sulphur application to improve grain yield and malt quality, and quantifying the economic value of improved yields and management practices by assessing return on investment of optimal rates of nitrogen and sulphur
Partners: Canadian Agricultural Partnership, Grain Farmers of Ontario, Rural Agri-Innovation Network, Emo Agricultural Research Station, Lakehead University Agricultural Research Station, New Liskeard Agricultural Research Station, OMAFRA
2018 - 2019
Winter Cattle Feeding Trial
Assessing the economic implications of keeping a cow over the winter in Northeastern Ontario
Partners: Temiskaming & Cochrane beef farmers
2018
Applied Agricultural Research in Northern Ontario
Report outlining the current state of agricultural research in Northern Ontario, potential future research themes and future steps to create a stable, sustainable framework for Northern research.
Partner: OMAFRA
2018
Plastics Disposal Assessment
Developing an inventory of agricultural plastic waste generated in Northern Ontario and assessing end-use options
Partners: OMAFRA, Envise
2018
Rail Infrastructure Assessment
Assessing the current and potential distribution capacity of the Highway 11 corridor from Nipissing to Cochrane and develop a modular plan for a rail siding facility to efficiently service the area
Partners: Koch Farms & Agri-Sales, Grant Farms, Co-op Regional, Township of Armstrong, FedNor, NOHFC
2018
Drone Land Assessment with Story Environmental
Assessing the feasibility of using drone technology to monitor crops to make better management decisions in Northern Ontario
Partners: Story Environmental Inc., Grant Ag
2018
Indigenous Foods & Medicines Project
Assessing the types of foods and medicines used by the Indigenous communities in the Rainy River District to determine future crop trials at EARS
Partners: OMAFRA, Rainy River Development Corporation, EARS
2017 - 2019
Deadstock Disposal Vessel Assessment
Examining the potential for the use of deadstock disposal vessels in Northern Ontario
Partners: OMAFRA, Reidridge Farms
2017 - 2019
Surface Applied Lime on Pasture
Examining the potential of surface applied lime to improve soil pH and pasture growth
Partners: Temiskaming Community Pasture, Temiskaming Crops Coalition
2017 - 2019
Economics of Hops in Northern Ontario
Assessing the potential of a number of hops varieties in Northern Ontario and supporting further hops applied research in Rainy River
Partners: OMAFRA, EARS
2017
Land Clearing Reference Guide
Examines 4 stages of land clearing and provides the when, how, why, approximate costs and things to consider.
Partners: Growing Forward 2, Ontario Soil & Crop Association
2017
Oat Cover Crop
Examining the potential of oat cover crop used as animal feed/biomass
Partners: NLARS
2017
Northern Beekeeping Course Development
Developing a beekeeping course specific to Northern climates to be piloted in the Rainy River District
2017
Forage Digestibility
To identify forage varieties that have good winter survivability and testing the yields of these forages throughout the growing season.
2017 - 2019
Northeast Bites
Developing recipes using Northern ingredients and Northern chefs to showcase at a number of events and build marketing capacity
Partners: FedNor, South Temiskaming Community Futures Development Corporation, City of Temiskaming Shores, Building Ties Temiskaming
2016 - 2017
Malting Barley, Canola, Wheat & Flax Trials
Examing varieties & management techniques for various crops in Thunder Bay
Partners: TBARS, Canada Malting Company, Richardson International
2016 - 2017
Northern Ontario Dairy Processing Strategy
Development of a strategic plan to build resiliency and add value to the dairy processing system in Northern Ontario
Partners: Northern Dairy Processing Committees, Scotiabank, EastGen, FedNor, NOHFC
2016
Yellow Mustard
Examining management techniques (nitrogen, fungicide, insecticide) to push yields of yellow mustard, an alternative crop for Northern Ontario
Partners: NLARS, GS Dunn, P&H
2016
Year Round Grazing Workshops
Hosting two 3-day workshops (Rainy River, New Liskeard) to extend the grazing season and help build better profit centres, Steve Kenyon to lead
Partners: Rainy River Cattleman's, Beef Farmers of Temiskaming, Growing Forward 2
2015 - 2018
Biomass Demonstration
Economic analysis of switchgrass & reed canary yields (mulch end user)
Partners: Northaven Farms
2015 - 2017
Rapid Development of Forest to Farmland
Examining the impact of forestry mulching on crop potential, developing a business case to assess various methods of land clearing (ROI, best management practices, etc.)
Partners: Ontario Soil & Crop Association, Temiskaming Crops Coalition, Cochrane Soil & Crop, GB Equipment, William Runnalls, Carl Dodds, Jason Desrochers
2015 - 2016
Intensive Oat Management
Examining the effects of fertility on oats & mechanisms to mitigate lodging concerns.
Partners: NLARS, Pepsico Quaker, BASF, GFO, EngageAgro, Syngenta, Canterra Seeds
2015
Industrial Hemp Variety Development
Development of tissue culture protocols to facilitate quicker generation of elite varieties of industrial hemp suited to Northern Ontario
Partners: NLARS, PhytoGene Resources, Growing Forward 2
2014 - 2025
NOHFC Tile Trainage
NOFIA acts as the program administrator for the Temiskaming District. Since 2014, NOFIA has administered 21 projects, with $15,424,820.62 in funding to improve 37,536.6 acres within the region, with three more projects underway.
Partners: NOHFC
Annually
Northern Ontario Ag Conference
Annual conference hosted to bring producers, researchers and industry stakeholders together from across the north to disseminate research results and network.
Annually
A Day in Farm Country
Annual self-guided car tour of Temiskaming farms
Annually
Northeastern Crop Caravan
Hosting a series of crop tours & workshops across Northeastern Ontario to connect producers to 4 OMAFRA specialists
Partners: Northeastern Ontario Soil & Crop Association
Ongoing
Activitities to Support Local Food & Agricultural Production
Support the producers to attend the Foire Gourmande (annual food festival in Ville-Marie, QC) and develop marketing materials. Support for "Feast on the Farm" event held in September
Partners: City of Temiskaming Shores, Foire Gourmande
Ongoing
FarmNorth
Developed an agricultural information hub to connect people with information related to agriculture in Northern Ontario
Partners: OMAFRA, Northern Caucus of the Ontario Federation of Agriculture, RAIN, NECN, Cloverbelt Local Food Coop, Growing Forward 2
2012
NOFIA Business Plan Development
The Northern Ontario Farm Innovation Alliance has hired Jean Denis Methot from Vanleek Hill, Ontario to develop a new governance model and business plan for a sustainable agri-research/tech transfer system for Northern Ontario. This will be an industry-driven collaborative system involving all agricultural regions of the north.