Join us in Guelph for the NFU-O AGM and Convention: “Soil: A Matter of Biology”

National Farmers Union – Ontario Newsletter
The Rural Voice | March 2024

Mark your calendars! The NFU-O Annual General Meeting (AGM) and Convention will be held on Tuesday, March 19th & Wednesday, March 20th, 2024. We’re excited to announce that, after three years of meeting virtually, we’ll be returning to in-person this year and will convene at the beautiful Arboretum at the University of Guelph. The ability to attend via Zoom will also be available for members who prefer to participate remotely.

We think you’ll agree that our theme this year, “Soil: A Matter of Biology”, holds paramount importance to our farming community.

Soil is not just a medium for plant growth; it is a dynamic, living ecosystem teeming with microbial life, fungi, and countless organisms that form a complex web of interactions. In addition to supporting plant growth, healthy soils play a critical role in maintaining biodiversity, supporting water filtration, enhancing the ecosystem’s resilience, and acting as a carbon sequestration powerhouse.

In all regions of Canada, soil degradation has developed into a major national concern. Whether from wind erosion on the prairies, water erosion in Ontario and the Maritimes, or from excessive fertilizer use in the endless pursuit of increased crop yields across the country, the decline in soil conditions threatens local & global food growing capacities.

But it doesn’t have to be this way. The National Farmers Union – Ontario (NFU-O) has long since recognized the importance of soil and has championed direct support to farmers implementing soil conservation practices, like crop rotation or reduced tillage, that build up organic matter in the soil. The 2024 NFU-O AGM will position the transformative potential of soil as a matter of biology, rather than chemistry.

Our Annual General Meeting will explore the multifaceted importance of living soils and how they contribute to the broader goals of sustainable agriculture. Join us for one day or for both and celebrate the richness of living soils and their indispensable role in cultivating a sustainable and prosperous agricultural future.

We’re excited to announce that our Tuesday evening keynote address will be delivered by Vivian Kaloxilos, Founder of Docterre – Soil Life Regeneration.

Vivian is passionate about the natural world, assisting and documenting life and biodiversity as it bounces back from states of degradation. She is an ecologist who specializes in soil ecology and applied soil life regeneration. She sees herself as a support system to farmers and landowners who are at the front lines of the regenerative movement. Through her company Docterre, founded in 2015, she has been educating, supporting and accompanying farmers in
their processes of regenerating soil biodiversity, understanding the connection between the health of subterranean biodiversity and above ground plant and ecosystem health and performance, and helping them to develop the practical skills needed to do so. She has been looking at agricultural soils and composts across Quebec and Ontario under her microscope for a decade, supporting the work of ecologically innovative farmers and documenting their trials this way. Vivian is a master compost maker, providing compost inoculums that are ecologically balanced and biologically rich, which her clients use to make liquid compost extracts on farm. Before founding Docterre, she taught and mentored Dr. Elaine Ingham’s soil consultants around the globe, was a graduate of McGill’s School of Environment and the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in applied field ecology, and completed her Permaculture Design Certificate.

As always, our AGM agenda will also consist of reports from the NFU-O Board, elections, and debates on policy resolutions.

Click here to view the PDF version.

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