Crop advisor-led soil health network expands into Canada

Building off the kind of work already being done in North Dakota, a soil-health program know as the Trusted Advisor Partnership will be taking root across the northern border in Canada’s Manitoba and Saskatchewan provinces. The new Canadian Prairies Trusted Advisor Partnership will launch to Certified Crop Advisors at the start of 2025, with broad backing from food and beverage companies, NGO collaborators, and scientific partners.

The Trusted Advisor Partnership aims to fill the continued gap in technical assistance for science-driven soil health management in the Prairies. By providing agronomists with the next-generation skills, technological know-how, and professional networks to expand their consulting footprint to thousands of additional acres, TAP is a lever for rapidly scaling sustainable agriculture to enhance farm resilience.

TAP was conceived in 2022 through a collaboration between Sustainable Food Lab, Syngenta soil health leader Abbey Wick, and North Dakota State University.

Brandon, Manitoba-based Assiniboine College — recognized for its leadership in agriculture extension, e-learning, and its career accelerator for pork technicians — will host the 2025 TAP curriculum and coordinate the issuance of Continuing Education Units. It will offer a masterclass in soil health agronomy, water management, and diversified cropping systems, covering  established and emerging stewardship practices in topics like residue management, zone mapping, variable rate technology, and tillage reduction.

“The TAP program is an obvious fit for our current set of programs, and our long-term priorities as a learning hub in the Prairies,” said Tim Hore, Assiniboine’s Dean of Ag & Environment. “Assiniboine is a national leader in flexible, adaptive, distance learning, and TAP provides the practical information and peer networking that crop advisors require to make sustainability a core part of their business, now and in the future.”

The program is supported by General Mills, PepsiCo, Bimbo Canada, Nature United, and the South East Research Farm.

According to Sustainable Food Lab, the ecosystems of the Northern Great Plains and Prairie Pothole regions are threatened by erosion, weather extremes, and disease and pest pressures. TAP is aiming to accelerate the transition of hundreds of thousands of acres to sustainable management in the coming years by empowering trusted advisors and their farmer clients. The North Dakota
TAP, which offers a three-month online training curriculum, in-person workshops, and financial incentives to participating farm advisors and producers, has garnered strong interest so far.

More than 30 independent CCAs have graduated from the unique curriculum, which focuses not only on the principles of soil health, but the crucial logistical considerations, labor needs, and site-specific constraints that pose common barriers to adoption of sustainable agriculture. The goal is to “train the trainer” so that the people who farmers rely on the most have the best and most accurate information to support long-term sustainability.