Evaluating virtual fencing as a tool for optimizing rotational grazing

Coordinating agronomist: Mélanie Perreault Gagnon
Organization: Agrinova
Practice: Rotational grazing
Trial started: Spring 2026

Barrier: Rotational grazing can improve pasture productivity and land use, but the time, labour, costs, and infrastructure required to install, move, and maintain physical fencing can limit its adoption or intensification. Virtual fencing may address some of these challenges, while also allowing more flexible, responsive grazing rotations that adapt to forage growth and changing conditions. However, producers lack regional, commercial-scale evidence on whether the technology can effectively control cattle movements, maintain pasture and animal performance, reduce management time, and provide a financially viable alternative to physical fencing.

Description: A field trial on a commercial beef farm in Centre-du-Québec will compare three approaches to rotational grazing: 1) a herd managed using physical fences under a more rigid rotation system of approximately five days per paddock; 2) a herd equipped with GPS-enabled collars, allowing for adaptive management and more frequent movements; and 3) a theoretical scenario estimating the labour required to achieve the same adaptive management moving physical fencing. Measurements and observations will include forage biomass, quality and utilization, animal behaviour and adaptation, management time, technical issues, and economics analysis performed. The results will be used to assess the profitability and feasibility of virtual fencing, as well as its agronomic impacts.

Refining nitrogen rates for spring wheat on high-organic-matter soils in the Bas-Saint-Laurent

Coordinating agronomist: Audrey-Anne Pelletier
Organization: JMP Consultants
Practice: Nitrogen management
Trial started: Spring 2026

Barrier: Spring wheat producers in the Bas-Saint-Laurent region often farm G2 and G3 soils with more than 4% organic matter, but the new MAPAQ nitrogen guidelines adjust for organic matter only in G1 soils. As a result, standard recommendations may overestimate nitrogen needs in the region. While tight profit margins make producers reluctant to reduce rates without regional, spring wheat-specific evidence that yield can be maintained, lowering in-crop nitrogen could reduce fertilizer costs and improve profitability.

Description: Field trials on two farms will compare four nitrogen treatments in spring wheat. The control will receive up to 60 kg N/ha (54 lbs N/ac) at seeding with no additional nitrogen, while the other treatments will receive the same rate at seeding followed by post-emergence applications at Zadoks stage 26 of 30, 45, or 60 kg N/ha (27, 40 or 54 lbs N/ac). Soil and plant tissue nitrate levels, plant population, pest and weed pressure, grain yield, protein, and test weight will be assessed. An economic analysis will compare treatments to evaluate whether post-emergence nitrogen can be reduced on high-organic matter G2 and G3 soils without reducing profitability.

Optimizing nitrogen application in corn while improving operational efficiency and reducing environmental impacts

Coordinating agronomist: Marie-Laurence Côté
Organization: Groupe Envir-Eau-Sol Inc.
Practice: Nitrogen management
Trial started: Spring 2026

Barrier: Applying some nitrogen (N) after corn emergence may better align nitrogen availability with periods of high crop demand, but the timing can conflict with time-sensitive field operations, such as first-cut hay on dairy farms. Applying all N before emergence may improve operational efficiency for these farms, particularly when combined with planting and strip-till in a single pass, while polymer-coated urea may help extend nitrogen availability. Producers lack regional data on whether this approach can maintain yield and provide an agronomically, economically, and environmentally viable alternative.

Description: A strip trial conducted in two fields on a commercial dairy and cash crop farm in Quebec will compare two corn nitrogen strategies at similar total nitrogen rates. The control will include starter fertilizers banded at planting, followed by a post-emergence blend of urea and ammonium sulfate around the V6 stage. In the treatment strips, starter fertilizers and a 50:50 blend of polymer-coated urea and conventional urea will be applied in a single pass, combining planting and strip-tillage, with no post-emergence nitrogen application. Crop performance, nitrogen dynamics, labour, fuel use, treatment costs, and potential greenhouse gas emissions will be assessed to compare the agronomic, operational, economic, and environmental trade-offs of the two strategies.

Sulfur fertilization and overseeding to maximize symbiotic nitrogen fixation in pastures

Coordinating agronomist: Frédérique Lavallée
Organization: Écoboeuf
Practice: Nitrogen management, Rotational grazing
Trial started: Spring 2026

Barrier: Mixed legume-grass pastures are the norm for many beef producers and can supply nitrogen through symbiotic fixation. However, sulfur deficiencies can reduce legume vigour, resulting in declining pasture productivity, leading more producers to consider synthetic nitrogen fertilizer. Although synthetic nitrogen can increase forage yield, it carries economic and environmental costs and can further reduce legume content in mixed stands. Producers lack regionally relevant, commercial-scale evidence that sulfur fertilization combined with legume overseeding can sustain pasture productivity and reduce reliance on synthetic nitrogen.

Description: A randomized field trial on a commercial beef farm in Quebec’s Clay Belt region will evaluate whether sulfur fertilization can improve legume establishment, symbiotic nitrogen fixation, and forage productivity under rotational grazing. Overseeded pasture plots will receive either potassium sulfate, a fast-release sulfur source; lower-cost, slow-release elemental sulfur; or no sulfur fertilizer. Legume establishment, composition, forage yield and quality, and treatment economics will be assessed to determine whether correcting sulfur deficiencies can help mixed pastures provide a practical and economically viable alternative to synthetic nitrogen fertilization.

Measuring the impact of different proportions of legumes in cover crop mixes on nitrogen credits in a subsequent corn crop

Coordinating agronomist: Florence Pomerleau-Lacasse
Organization: Agri Conseils Maska
Practices: Cover crops, nitrogen management
Trial started: Fall 2025

Barrier: Leguminous cover crops can supply nitrogen to the following crop and potentially reduce synthetic fertilizer needs, but legume cover crops can have a wide range of seed costs depending on species. There is a lack of local data on what species and proportion of legumes optimize biomass, nitrogen contribution and economic return.

Description: On four farms, two cover crop mixes (oats, radish and forage peas or fava beans) will be planted side by side after a cereal crop with <50% legumes and >70% legumes. Cover crop biomass and quality will be measured. In the subsequent corn crop, test strips with only starter fertilizer will be compared to standard rates. Changes in soil nitrate, corn stalk nitrate, and corn yield will be measured, and the economics evaluated to determine the legume proportion that delivers the best agronomic and economic value.

Evaluating the latest planting date for establishing cover crops after spring cereal, soybean and silage corn crops

Coordinating agronomist: Isabelle Dubé, Emmanuelle Robertson
Organization: Groupe PleineTerre inc.
Practice: Cover crops
Trial started: Fall 2025

Barrier: The lack of regional data on the latest viable planting dates for cover crops makes it difficult to develop reliable recommendations for farmers. In corn–soybean–cereal rotations, the very short planting window after harvest limits the adoption of cover crops and there is uncertainty about the agronomic and economic benefits.

Description: These trials compare standard and late fall planting dates to evaluate cover crop establishment. Trials include 

• Fall rye (160 kg/ha) drilled after spring cereals on September 15, October 1, and October 15; 

• Oats (50 kg/ha) and radish (4 kg/ha) drone-seeded into soybeans at R6 and R7; and 

• Fall rye (160 kg/ha) seeded after corn silage on October 15 and 25. 

Cover crop performance will be evaluated in late fall, including ground cover and biomass, and a partial-budget analysis completed.

Evaluating nitrogen credits from leguminous cover crops in colder regions to guide nitrogen fertilizer management in potatoes

Coordinating agronomist: Yolaine Filion
Organization: Club d’encadrement technique pommes de terre
Practices: Cover crops, nitrogen management
Trial started: Fall 2025

Barrier: Potatoes are heavy feeders, and under- or over-applying nitrogen can affect plant health, yield and quality. In colder regions with shorter growing seasons, uncertainty about nitrogen credits from leguminous cover crops makes it difficult for potato growers to confidently adjust synthetic nitrogen fertilizer rates.

Description: This replicated split-plot trial will compare a legume cover crop (forage peas) seeded after canola harvest with a no cover crop control. Three post-emergence nitrogen (N) rate treatments will be applied: the grower’s standard nitrogen rate and two reduced rates (15 kg N/ha and 30kg of N/ha below standard). Cover crop biomass, soil and petiole nitrate levels and potato yield and tuber quality will help quantify nitrogen credits, while an economic analysis will evaluate the feasibility of adjusting synthetic fertilizer rates accordingly.

Intercropping cover crops in grain corn: evaluating seeding methods

Coordinating agronomist: Camille Dumont
Organization: Groupe ProConseil
Practice: Cover crops
Trial started: Fall 2025

Barrier: Adding cover crops in a corn rotation can be challenging due to the short post-harvest growth window, wet conditions at seeding time that can result in compaction, and limited access to specialised equipment. Drone seeding into standing corn offers a quick and potentially more affordable alternative, but this practice is still new in the region. It is therefore necessary to document methods, timing, and seeding rates in order to identify effective and cost-efficient approaches that promote reliable establishment and improvements in soil health.

Description: Four farms will participate in this trial. One farm will compare 1) 10kg/ha of broadcast Italian ryegrass at the same time as nitrogen sidedress application into corn, with 2) Italian ryegrass drone-seeded preharvest at 25 kg/ha, and 3) a no cover crop control. The other farms will drone-seed radish or winter canola pre-corn harvest at 15 kg/ha and 25 kg/ha, compared to a no cover crop control. Corn yield, cover crop growth, and soil structure data will be collected, and an economic comparison conducted.

An economic comparison of different extended grazing strategies

Coordinating agronomists: Serge Pageau and Émilie Blondeau
Organization: Conseil québécois des plantes fourragères
Practices: Cover crops, rotational grazing
Trial started: Fall 2025

Barrier: There is limited local economic and agronomic data to guide farmers on strategies to effectively extend the fall grazing season while reducing labour and feeding costs. Without comprehensive comparisons to conventional confined hay feeding, farmers lack the support needed to make informed decisions about integrating beneficial management practices like grazing cover crops.

Description: This trial compares three late-fall grazing strategies in a cattle operation: stockpiled forage, standing cover crops, and bale grazing on pasture. Forage yield and quality, dry matter intake, and labour requirements will be recorded. The economics of these extended grazing systems will be compared with the established costs and labour associated with the industry-standard practice of feeding stored forage in confinement. Results will help farmers evaluate whether these strategies can improve cost-efficiency and reduce labour, while delivering environmental benefits.