For Immediate Release 

Water and Soil featured in Producer-focused MFGA Projects
MFGA engaged in two producer-focused projects thru Manitoba Agriculture and Resource Development & AAFC's Canadian Agriculture Partnership
Winnipeg, MB (January 15, 2020) -  Manitoba Forage and Grassland Association (MFGA) is ripping into the brand new decade via two Manitoba Agriculture and Resource Development (MARD) and federal Canadian Agriculture Partnership (CAP) projects with major focus on water and soil on producer lands.  
The first project utilizes the MFGA's Aquanty Model - a HydroGeoSphere high resolution water-movement model completed in 2018 on the Assiniboine River Basin - to develop a project scenario titled "Investigating the influences of soil health and land drainage on the hydrologic behavior of the Assiniboine River Basin". This exciting project launched last fall and has been approved for CAP Ag Action Manitoba - Research and Innovation funding up to a maximum of $65,431.81 based on a $130,863.62 project that has meshed together a partnership between MFGA and the Assiniboine West Watershed District - a newly-created provincial watershed district that includes previous MFGA partner Upper Assiniboine River Conservation District - by focusing on the Oak River watershed. As with all similarly funded projects, the run-up between maximum funding amounts via CAP Ag Action to the project's final budget total is made via inputs such as partner and supporter matching funds, project management and in-kind project commitments. 
"The interplay between land use and water management will be characterized from soil health and drainage perspectives," says Dr. Steven Frey from Aquanty, who is the principal investigator on the project. "New insight will be generated on how to build and maintain resilient agricultural landscapes that can reduce producer risk exposure to extreme weather events." 
As well as the insights on resiliency, the MFGA-MARD-CAP project will encourage greater public trust around grasslands and forages as part of an extensive communications strategy - something the MFGA believes is a focal part of their involvement in the second project: "Soil Health Assessment for enhanced productivity and resilience for cattle grazing systems in Manitoba grasslands" sees a maximum $38,159 funding contribution to a $71,980 project led by Dr. Terence McGonigle from Brandon University designed to complement the MFGA-Canadian Grassland & Forage Association (CFGA)'s Agriculture Greenhouse Gas Program by conducting additional research on six Manitoba producer fields. Dr. McGonigle is also the science lead on the MFGA-CFGA AGGP Project and has completed the first field season on the two projects by sampling six Manitoba fields. 
"In summary, the data for the quotient so far shows that forage sites behave like grasslands, with about twice as many microbes per unit of soil carbon when compared to a crop field," reported McGonigle in a recent project summary. "The likely explanation for this difference is that roots of the forage plants provide a delivery of biomass to the soil microbes that is consistent across time and space in the field. If microbes are taken as a measure of a healthy soil, then forage production keeps the system healthy for carbon."
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For More Information:
Duncan Morrison, MFGA Executive Director, 204.770.3548, [email protected]

MFGA  interacts with tens of thousands of Manitobans through our communications,  collaborative projects, and outreach that promote the importance and well-being of Manitoba`s forages  and grasslands. On a national scale, MFGA proudly partners with like-minded groups across Canada.