Research Info Session: Regenerative Climate Resilient Vegetables
🗓️📌 May 8, 2025| This online info session shared UBC applied research in organic vegetable production and opportunities to get involved in new field trials.
Researchers introduced the Regenerative-Organic Climate Resilient Vegetables project and highlighted the next four-year phase of field trials launching this spring. Research will be focused on enhancing regenerative outcomes through practices like conservation tillage, nutrient management, and cover cropping.
2025 Provincial Research Workshop
Delivered in partnership with the BC Ministry of Agriculture and Food, ACARN’s 2025 annual workshop was Lab to Land: Advancing water and soil research for agricultural resilience. Sessions explored current agricultural climate change research and projects from across the province, including keynote sessions on Indigenous partnered initiatives. We heard from those working on the ground and learned about the research and programs emerging to advance agricultural research and support BC farmers. Key topics included:
Producer Perspectives on Beneficial Management Practices
In 2023, ACARN supported the BC Living Lab with the development and distribution of a survey to BC producers. The survey explored growers’ awareness of and interest in Beneficial Management Practices (BMPs) and collected insights across seven major agricultural commodities.
Ethical Data Governance Toolkit
To increase the capacity for ethical data governance in the agriculture sector, ACARN partnered with researchers at UBC and beyond to co-develop resources to help farmers and others working with agricultural data. A free and open-access collection of resources available in multiple languages:
Agricultural Data Collection Protocols Conference
We hosted this two-day conference to make progress towards defining collective approaches for measuring soil organic carbon, greenhouse gas emissions and co-benefits in BC agricultural production systems.
The workshop was designed to showcase the common research approaches that will provide a framework for the BC Living Lab and to build connections with provincial government initiatives and other aligned projects. Find all sessions below.
AgResilience Podcast
The AgResilience podcast brings you behind the scenes into conversations with guests from across BC on the leading edge of agricultural research for climate change adaptation and mitigation. Interviews go beyond results and dive into discussions on making research more effective for farmers and insights into the transformations needed for long term resiliency in our food systems.
Berry Workshop: Managing for flood damage, extreme heat and pests
Over the past year, BC has experienced the extremes of the heat dome and catastrophic flooding. These events have left berry growers with many questions both for immediate crop management and long term resilience. This webinar series explored management guidance for flood-impacted berry fields, heat damage, tolerance, and mitigation in berries, and climate change impacts on pest management.
2021 Provincial Research Workshop
This online workshop explored pressing climate impacts on BC agriculture in 2021. Discussions covered wildfire risk reduction, adaptation strategies, and the role of agriculture in climate mitigation. With insights from researchers, producers, industry leaders, these fostered timely conversation on adaptation strategies, barriers, and opportunities for resilience. Key topics included:
Greenhouse gas mitigation research summaries for BC agricultural commodities
To support the work of the BC Living Lab, ACARN conducted a scan of recent research that addresses practices to help mitigate climate change. We produced mitigation research summaries for seven production systems.
These documents provide a high-level overview of recent, primarily BC-based, published research and research in progress investigating agricultural management practices with potential to mitigate climate change.
Agricultural Weather Data Network
Between 2019 and 2021, ACARN’s Climate and Weather Data Working Group identified gaps in agricultural weather data availability and explored options for better data and decision aid support tools for agricultural producers. A gap analysis and roadmap were produced from this work and shared in a webinar.
GHG emissions & carbon sequestration in Fraser Valley agricultural systems
Discover findings from a pioneering, four-year research initiative examining greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions across high-value crop production in British Columbia’s Lower Fraser Valley.
Managing orchards and vineyards for climate friendly outcomes
This three-part webinar series from the BC Food Web explored strategies for reducing greenhouse gas emissions in orchards and vineyards across the Okanagan Valley. Key topics included soil carbon, microbial nitrogen cycling, and lifecycle modelling.
Climate and Weather Data Webinar Series
From weather station data to future climate projection models and decision support tools for farm-level management, this series provided an in-depth look at what data and tools are available and how best to use them for research or agriculture management for climate change adaptation.
Adaptive capacity for water management
This collaborative project, led by Dr. John Janmaat at UBC’s Okanagan campus, explored how agricultural communities in the Okanagan and Cariboo regions adapt to climate change impacts. Building on earlier work by project partners, the team focused on how BC’s regulatory environment influences agricultural resilience to changes in water supply.
2019 Provincial Research Workshop
This two-day event brought together B.C. producers and researchers to explore practical and collaborative approaches to agricultural adaptation. The first afternoon focused on producer-led sessions highlighting field-tested practices to improve soil health, store carbon, manage pests and disease, and adapt to changing weather—specifically geared toward tree fruit and wine grape production. The second day centered on building collaborative strategies to support adaptation, with discussions on extension, data sharing, and future research needs.
BC Agriculture and Climate Change Education Series
The BC Agriculture and Climate Change Education Series was created out of a four-part event exploring climate challenges and adaptation strategies in British Columbia’s agricultural sector. Hosted across eight post-secondary institutions in spring 2019, the series included expert presentations, Q&A sessions, and activities designed to bring regional and broader perspectives together.
2018 Provincial Research Workshop
This workshop theme was Crossing Disciplinary & Institutional Boundaries, and the event brought together 64 researchers, policy-makers, industry specialists, students and producers from various sectoral groups and regions of the province.
2017 Provincial Research Workshop
ACARN partnered with the BC Agriculture & Food Climate Action Initiative (CAI) to host a workshop on climate change adaptation research in the British Columbia agriculture sector.
