The Ontario Crops Research Centre - Ridgetown (at Ridgetown Campus) is located on 450 acres of land in the heart of Ontario’s rich agricultural region. The site houses many multi-functional facilities that serve a variety of research programs. The facility is owned by Agricultural Research and Innovation Ontario and managed by U of G through the Ontario Agri-Food Innovation Alliance.

Research programs are also conducted at two satellite stations: in Cedar Springs [1], which includes 30 acres of horticultural crops, and Huron [2], which includes 125 acres of field crops.

Research areas and outcomes

Research programs at the Ridgetown Campus cover a variety of areas including: field crop agronomy, pest management (weed, insect and disease) in horticultural crops, soil and environmental management, livestock production and applied farm economics.

See current research studies at the Ontario Crops Research Station - Ridgetown [3].

Celebrating 25 years of crop rotation research at Ridgetown Campus

It can take time to understand trends and see results. That’s where long-term research at Ontario’s agricultural research stations comes in. For decades, long-term trials at the Elora Research Station [4] and Ridgetown Campus have generated evidence farmers can be confident in using to make decisions related to crop rotation, tillage systems and nitrogen management.

Working with Soils at Guelph [5], we have distilled four key findings about the importance of crop rotation and how it affects various on-farm outcomes including crop yield, resilience during dry years, nitrogen use efficiency and soil health into a series of key findings infographics to help crop advisors and farmers make on-farm decisions to remain competitive and sustainable. Visit Crop Rotation Counts: Key Findings from Long-Term Rotation Plot Research [6].