Scaling Up Organics Grant: 2024-2026
PROJECT DETAILS: Project partners include Organic Alberta, SaskOrganics, Manitoba Organics, Ontario Organic (formerly Organic Council of Ontario), the Atlantic Canadian Organic Regional Network and the University of Manitoba. The groups delivered farmer trainings in their regions, including conferences, farm tours and farm clubs, educated consumers about the multiple benefits of organic agriculture through tabling events, and worked with farmers to benchmark soil health. Other projects included enhancing the sector's data benchmarking capacity by introducing new statistical tools and supporting organic grain markets through enhancement of the Organic Grain Hub.
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Soil Health Benchmarking: To read the final project report click here.
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To watch the national webinar for participating farms, visit the PODF website, scroll down to the project and click play on the video.
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For producers interested in conducting similar experiments on their own farms, you can watch these instructional videos:
Activity 1
Organic Data and Benchmarking Strategy
This activity included development and Promotion of the Organic Grain Hub, a tool that makes it easier for organic grain growers to connect with buyers while giving them the market intelligence they need to succeed in a competitive business environment.
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Activity also included the Soil Health Benchmarking Study. This study included 19 organic farms across Saskatchewan, and 40 other farms across the country, whereby the farm was able to evaluate and compare the effects of a soil health 'intervention' practice against their standard or 'check' practice for a particular field. Multiple soil tests were taken on the farms including to examine nutrients, soil aggregate stability and soil carbon, as well as plant tissue testing. At the end of the project, all participating farms received a customized report and were invited to a national webinar to learn more about their results.
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Ask Agriwise-Ontario Organic developed an app that aims to become a central hub for organic data in Canada. While still being developed and added to as more data sets become publicly available, the app gives some insights on organic production and sales in Canada. (*Cavet: Some data sets are incomplete due to limitations with publicly available data in Canada therefore should not be considered comprehensive)
Activity 2
Improving Organic Integrity and Public Trust
This activity included the creation of multiple public and consumer education materials, from social media posts to postcards, to posters, to videos, as well as allowed each region to table at various consumer facing events in their respective provinces. Over the course of the three-year project, SaskOrganics tabled at 9 consumer facing events, collaborated in conjunction with Ontario Organic and the other provinces on the creation of over 65 English and French digital and print materials, and created three of our own videos highlighting the different types of organic agriculture and production in Saskatchewan.
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Click the slider above to view photos from tabling events
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Consumer Materials (see our consumer resources page, and scroll down)
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Video: Organic Processor
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Field Day Photos-Three Years- Click the Slider above to view photos
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Producer Club Photos-Click the Slider above to view photos
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Click here to watch the video recording of Producer Club about Cover Cropping
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Conference Photos (Advancing Organics) Three Years-Click the Slider above to view photos
SaskOrganics Events in the Media:
A couple of our field days as well as our conferences had media in attendance, resulting in news articles. This kind of exposure highlights the organic sector to the public, assisted in promoting the benefits of a career in agriculture and/or enhanced the public's perception of organic agriculture and its role in the economy.
Activity 3
Building Organic Skills, Knowledge
and Best Practices
This activity of the project consisted of activities to build skills, knowledge and best practices for producers across the country and included field days, farm club meetings and regional conferences. Over the course of the three year grant, SaskOrganics hosted 8 field days, 6 producer club meetings, and three conferences (Advancing Organics Conference & Trade Show).
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​In-person producer events like these are excellent ways to build skills, share knowledge, network with other producers, and build contacts and connections with the organic sector. Events usually feature a mix of agronomic or business related content, and speakers including University professors, Industry experts, and producers.
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Field Day Website Events:
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Producer Club Website Events:
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Advancing Organics Conference Website:
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March 25/26: Saskatoon (note-official website was updated for the 2026 conference)
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March 27/28: Saskatoon (note-official website was updated for the 2026 conference)
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Conference Print Programs
Project Impact
The grant enabled SaskOrganics, and the other participating provinces, to pursue high-impact initiatives that would have otherwise been financially out of reach. While several areas benefited, the further development and promotion of the Organic Grain Hub, the Soil Health Benchmarking Project and the Consumer Video Series stand out as the most notable achievements. Building producer knowledge, skills and best practices, consumer education and trust, and public attention to the organic sector are invaluable impacts of the grant. We are grateful to Agriculture & Agri-Food Canada and the Sustainable Canadian Agriculture Partnership, and the Prairie Organic Development fund for this opportunity.