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Experimental Acres program highlights on-farm sustainability

Recently, Grey County's Experimental Acres program completed its third year supporting six projects from a 0.25-acre trial to a 240-acre cash-crop project.
To test scalable methods, Grey Agricultural Services designed trials to replicate late-summer hay seeding and cover-crop seeding after cereals, aiming to maintain living roots and extend forage.
Among the field trials, several named producers tested varied methods, including Gillian Griffin's pastured poultry and turkeys soil fertility test, Anthony Rabideau's ramial mulch and buried cotton cloth test on one acre, and turnip overseeding and broadcast methods on large acreages.
Early results show measurable gains, including a dense alfalfa-grass mix with no wheat swaths after hay seeding and higher organic matter with stronger soil-health parameters under biodiverse apple guilds.
Results also highlighted practical trade-offs, for example, Joshua Bye of Meaford's 15-acre alternative-grazing project produced good forage volume and nutrient density despite seasonal variability, while turnip and overseeded forages struggled in thick crop areas.

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