On Wednesday, August 6, Trent University unveiled their newly constructed Lightbody Drive Shed at the Trent Farm Research Centre with a ribbon cutting ceremony. 

The event included speeches from Trent’s President Dr. Cathy Bruce; Ontario’s Minister of Rural Affairs, Lisa Thompson; Dr. Karen Thompson, director of the farm, and from the Lightbody family who’s donation funded the construction. 

Sisters Deb and Tamara Lightbody spoke on behalf of their late parents, Bob and Margie, who were both part of Trent’s first graduating ‘64 class.

“Our family is very proud to support a research farm that includes a focus on Indigenous knowledge systems, encompassing not only ecological understanding, but also cultural practices and spiritual beliefs,” Deb Lightbody said. 

“But today does signal the beginning of the next chapter—a chapter in which the Lightbody Drive Shed forms a foundational piece of infrastructure in support of important research in regenerative agriculture, ecological restoration and food security, all inextricably connected to the Indigenous knowledge of this place,” she added.

Drive sheds are buildings that are often used by farmers for storage and to conduct repairs.Trent’s drive shed also has an attached air-conditioned room for staff use. The farm itself is being used for a variety of agricultural research, such as an ongoing study on fertilizer efficiency and application.

“I'm studying novel fertilizer formulations and their capacity to reduce nitrogen losses in agricultural soils,” Masters student Kaileigh Wright told Arthur.

“We have these plots here that are fertilized with different generations of the novel fertilizer…this machine [portable gas flux analyzer] here is an automated chamber which can open and close…So when we put the top of our automated chamber down, we can connect it to this portable chamber right here to give real time measurements of the gasses being emitted from the soil,” Wright explained.

They use the Eosense machine pictured above, which seals to more accurately capture readings. 

“Nitrogen is something that is key for crop growth, and it's often applied using nitrogen fertilizers, and as those fertilizers break it down that nitrogen can be mobilized into forms that can move through the environment,” Wright continued. 

“So we're particularly looking through the gas system. We're particularly looking at nitrous oxide and ammonia. Nitrous oxide is the potent greenhouse gas, and ammonia represents a major economic loss for producers. That nitrogen that is being applied to the fields may not actually be available for the plants to take up, so we're looking at reducing those losses” Wright said.

In the plot Wright is working on at the moment, the farm is growing commercial corn used to feed livestock.

“It’s something that is very economically relevant to producers working and growing in this area. So we wanted to take a look at a product here that may be potentially used by farmers growing in this environment.” Wright said.

Finley Dobbs, who works at the Trent Market Garden which is closely linked with the Sustainable Agriculture and Food Systems program and the Research Farm, offered glowing praise for the research farm. 

“This is my first time having hands-on farming experience, and I'm so happy to work here,” Dobbs said. “This is a great introduction.”

After the ceremony, Dr. Thompson, Minister Thompson and President Bruce spoke to the press about the importance of Trent’s Farm Research Centre.

"We've got this asset of this beautiful land, we've got people who want to do the research here, and the students who are having the experiences to learn more.” Bruce said. “And it's all connected to the rural economic development in such a real, practical way. And I think that that's something we really want to sort of promote, continue to promote.”

Minister Thompson agreed with Bruce’s sentiments, citing how she was previously at Trent speaking to students on the research farm about the agrifood industry’s economic return to rural communities.   

“I have 14 municipalities in my riding and a whole lot of high schools: I want to tip my hat to the recruitment officers and the recruiting team at Trent,” Thompson told media. “More times than not when I attend a graduation now, it's stunning how many people say ‘We're going to Trent’, or ‘I've applied to Trent’, and I smile about that because it's a campus in rural Ontario that people can relate to.”