Farmer Innovation & Research Ecosystem (FIRE)

FIRE (Farmer Innovation & Research Ecosystem) is a farmer-first research and innovation platform that empowers producers to lead change on their own terms. Whether testing a new idea, joining a pilot, or collaborating on research, FIRE supports the people who know the land best.

This isn’t top-down science—it’s co-developed, peer-informed, and rooted in real-world conditions. Through innovation challenges, applied trials, and strategic partnerships, FIRE builds a living ecosystem where research meets action.

You’ll find us working alongside farmers, researchers, and SMEs to build the knowledge we need for tomorrow—together.

Current Opportunities Include:

• Joining or hosting on-farm trials
• Participating in innovation challenges
• Co-designing research with academic or tech partners

For Farmers: Run trials, test tools, bring your ideas to life

For Collaborators: Co-develop research, access farmer networks, pilot technologies

Want to innovate with us? Propose a FIRE Innovation Challenge 

The FIRE Program fosters a collaborative research and innovation ecosystem by injecting farmers’ experiences and expertise into the early stages of research and innovation – ensuring that solutions are validated and founded on industry-identified problems.

FIRE will accelerate adoption of sustainable innovations through:

• the co-development and user-vetting of technologies,
• grassroots collaboration,
• high impact events,
• farmer-driven validation and research. 

FIRE supports innovation challenges that match farmer-identified needs with actionable solutions. These challenges connect producers, tech developers, and ag tech start-ups to identify and accelerate the adoption of new technologies. The technologies are put to the test through on farm pilot projects and farmer led validation research. 

Through projects like agriNEXT, FIRE provides a collaborative pathway for Canadian agtech ventures to scale through real-world validation and user vetting. not just theory. 

2024 Sustainable Agtech for Profitability Challenge Winner: Geco: Strategic Weed Management

2025 Next Gen Nitrogen Challenge Winner: Picketa Systems 

The FIRE program focuses on driving innovation from the bottom up, rooting research and innovation in the needs of farmers. There is an expressed interest from both farmers and academics to increase collaboration and communication across sectors to continue to drive agricultural research and practice adoption forward in the province.  

Partnerships with organizations like the University of Guelph help foster this collaboration, ensuring outcomes are relevant, applied, and scalable. 

OSN is happy to be partnered with the Ecological Farmers Association of Ontario and Farmers for Climate Solutions on this project.

The Adaptive Nitrogen Trials (ANT) were designed to support farmers in confidently assessing the nitrogen value of a cover crop to fine-tune nitrogen management strategies in corn following a cover crop. The trial, supported by the FaRM Resilience Mentorship Program (farmlearninghub.ca), allows farmers to get a better understanding of how their cover crop program can impact nitrogen availability in their corn crop.  

One of the best parts of ANT is the flexibility in managing the nitrogen. Every farmer has a different nutrient management program, and this program allows participants to embrace their current management practices. 

Farmer-led projects like ANT allow for participants to get data that is relevant to their own operations and fields and compare it to their peers. This improves understanding and helps make better decisions on how to manage inputs to increase farm profitability and sustainability.