RESEARCH SITES

This study is based on three research sites located in southern Québec and Ontario. A summary of these sites is provided in Table 4.1, whereas their locations are shown in Figure 4.1.

Table 4.1. Summary of Salient Features of Research Sites

Name of the Research Site Province of Location Commodity Produced Selected BMP for

water management Baseline BMP

Leamington Ontario Tomato Subsurface drip irrigation

Surface drip irrigation Saint-Louis-de-

Blandford Québec Cranberries

Sprinkler irrigation and water table control

Sprinkler irrigation and no water table control

Saint-Patrice-de-

Sherrington Québec Onions Sprinkler irrigation

No irrigation / Dryland production

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Figure 4.1. Map of Eastern Canada showing Research Sites

4.3.1 Case Study 1 - Tomato Production in Leamington, Ontario

The Leamington research site is in the Essex County, Southwestern Ontario. This farm is representative of a large commercial tomato production operation in this County. The size of this farm is approximately 1,000 acres. The farm's land allocation is divided between tomato production, which occupies approximately 10% of the total farmland, seed corn (10%), corn (10%) and soybean (65%). The tomato cultivar grown on this farm is Heinz 9553, a product intended for processing markets. The crop is in a two-year rotation cycle, with either seed corn or corn. The soil type is loamy sand.

On this farm, irrigation is used only for tomatoes, with 50% of the area under tomato production being irrigated using surface drip irrigation and the other half using a subsurface drip irrigation system. The main water source for irrigation is Lake Erie -- brought through Leamington Area Drip Irrigation Incorporation (LADII). This water is supplemented by that available in the municipal ditch system.

At this location the BMP under evaluation was subsurface drip irrigation, which was compared against the existing technology used – a surface drip irrigation system. Details on the

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experimental design of the biophysical team, together with additional information regarding measurement are provided in Edwards (2014). This team set up in-field experiments and recorded water use, fertilizer type and applications, soil water capacity, tomato yields, irrigation scheduling, and greenhouse gas emissions coming from the soil. In addition to these data, economic data on the farm and the BMPs were collected through an in-depth interview with the agricultural producer.

4.3.2 Case Study 2 - Cranberry Production at Saint-Louis-de-Blandford, Québec

Another research site was a cranberry farm located in Saint-Louis-de-Blandford, Centre- du-Québec region, in Québec. The farm has approximately 1,400 acres dedicated solely to cranberry production. On this farm, the Stevens cranberry variety is grown, which is the most predominant cultivar grown in North America. The cranberry production takes place in rectangular basins, also referred to as cranberry beds, which are half a meter deep. This cranberry bog basin dimensions are approximately 50m by 500m (150 feet x 1500 feet); the original soil was excavated and was replaced by sandy soil that have better drainage characteristics. Other producers in the region have similar production layouts and practices.

Drainage tiles were installed across the entire production area. Within each basin, there are three drainage tiles located at 18’’ underneath the soil surface. Drainage is also achieved via surface ditches, located at each edge of the cranberry fields. The main water source is the Becancour River. Irrigation in cranberry production has several purposes. Sprinkler irrigation is used to meet plants’ water requirements during the summer, and for plant frost protection in late fall and early spring. In order to accurately meet the plants water requirements, irrigation scheduling is done with the use of tensiometers – devices that provide soil moisture readings.

At this site, two water management systems were evaluated: sprinkler irrigation and subirrigation. The latter is a dual-purpose water management system, which provides both irrigation and drainage. Additional water for irrigation can be supplied through the same pipes that are used for drainage. Optimal use of subirrigation is achieved when the water table is accurately managed. The existing drainage system for cranberry production was modified, to make subsurface irrigation a feasible option. Control structures and pumps required to move the water in and out of each cranberry basin were required for subirrigation. In some cases, the modification of the current drainage system involved only the installation of additional pipelines. Pelletier et al. (2013, 2015, and 2016) have provided additional information on the in-field research design at this

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site. Like the tomato farm case study, data were obtained from the biophysical research team and from the agricultural producer.

4.3.3 Case Study 3 - Onion Production Saint-Patrice-de-Sherrington, Québec

The third research site was in Saint-Patrice-de Sherrington, in Montérégie, Québec. The farm is approximately 1,500 acres; about 350 of which (23%) are allocated to the production of dry onions. This case study farm uses a 2-year crop rotation in its production cycle. In the first rotation onions and carrots are grown, which is followed by spinach and lettuce. On this farm, onions are irrigated using a sprinkler system. The water source for irrigation is groundwater -- a well located on the farm. Furthermore, a reservoir was recently constructed on the farm to supplement irrigation water needs. The soil on the farm is predominantly rich in organic matter. At this research location, the BMP under evaluation was sprinkler irrigation.