A Global System for On-Farm Innovation

In Canada, governments continue to back away from field research and extension. In Alberta, the region I know best, the government retreated from directly supporting on-farm innovation, practice changes and adaptation to the social, economic, and marketplace environments of today. 

Farming Smarter tries to fill that growing gap. However, it is increasingly difficult to overcome the challenges of running a farm-focused, non-profit without secure funding.

My goal was to seek out exceptional research and knowledge transfer agricultural organizations around the world that are clearly improving agricultural practices and outcomes in the regions they serve.

I wanted to study their operations, funding models, governance, quantifiable impacts, and client communications. Unfortunately, I found quickly that very few non-profit organizations are successfully doing this so I pivoted my efforts to look at how agricultural innovation systems are functioning and how Ag based non-profits can help fill the voids. As is often the case, I set off around the world looking for one thing and found something quite different.