Guy Lafond
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Guy Lafond was a research scientist for over 30 years with
Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC; sometimes Ag-Canada; )''Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada'' is the applied title under the Federal Identity Program; the legal title is Department of Agriculture and Agri-Food (). is the Structure of the Can ...
at the Indian Head Research Farm in Saskatchewan. He was instrumental in establishing the Indian Head Agricultural Research Foundation (IHARF) in the early 1990s and had a major impact on cropping practices and soil conservation.


Early life and education

Lafond grew up in St. Jean Baptiste, Manitoba, and obtained his bachelor's and master’s degrees from the
University of Manitoba The University of Manitoba (U of M, UManitoba, or UM) is a public research university in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Founded in 1877, it is the first university of Western Canada. Both by total student enrolment and campus area, the University of ...
. He then obtained his Ph.D. from the
University of Saskatchewan The University of Saskatchewan (U of S, or USask) is a Universities in Canada, Canadian public university, public research university, founded on March 19, 1907, and located on the east side of the South Saskatchewan River in Saskatoon, Saskatch ...
and worked at their Crop Development Centre in 1984 before settling his family at Agriculture Canada’s research farm in Indian Head. After working with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada for over 30 years, he died in April 2013 in
Regina, Saskatchewan Regina ( ) is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Saskatchewan. The city is the second-largest in the province, and is a commercial centre for southern Saskatchewan. As of the 2021 Canadian census, ...
, after battling cancer.


Career

Lafond began his career with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada in 1985, where he provided strong leadership and conducted research aimed at soil conservation and sustainable agriculture practices. His career started during the no-till farming revolution, which he had closely tracked ever since. His areas of research at the Indian Head Research Farm included agronomy of no-till, cropping systems, precision farming, cereal, oilseed and pulse production, soil, fertilizer, and land management. Lafond changed the face of agriculture in Western Canada with his pioneering research in
no-till farming No-till farming (also known as zero tillage or direct drilling) is an agricultural technique for growing crops or pasture without disturbing the soil through tillage. No-till farming decreases the amount of soil erosion tillage causes in certa ...
and contributions to the adoption of direct seeding. He was one of the most distinguished conservation researchers in Canada and shared his knowledge with researchers and producers around the world, including in the
United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
,
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,
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,
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,
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,
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, and across
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. In Canada and internationally, many profited from his expertise and tireless unbiased research. Lafond’s research in
precision agriculture Precision agriculture (PA) is a management strategy that gathers, processes and analyzes temporal, spatial and individual plant and animal data and combines it with other information to support management decisions according to estimated varia ...
helped farmers change how they work and learn new information about their land. With GPS technology and earth observation satellites, farmers can acquire insightful data on soil and crop health, and farm machinery is able to have navigational abilities and auto-steering. This information and technology from precision agriculture can help farmers tailor their practices to maximize yield and sustainability by applying seed, fertilizer, and pesticides in the right amounts, at the right time in the right place. In the early 1990s, Lafond played a leading role in establishing the Indian Head Agricultural Research Foundation (IHARF) that continues to conduct applied research for farmers. IHARF is a non-profit organization that aims to promote sustainable and profitable agriculture and benefit the agricultural community by facilitating research and technology transfer activities. It is widely recognized as an innovative leader in public-good research.


Awards and achievements

* Manitoba-North Dakota Zero Tillage Associate Award of Outstanding contribution to the development of zero-till and direct seeding * The Weed Science Society of America Award of Excellence * Saskatchewan Soil Conservation Association Award of Merit * Canadian Society of Agronomy Distinguished Agrologist * Fellow of the Canadian Society of Agronomy * Diamond jubilee recipient * Honoured posthumously (March 2014) for his lifetime achievement and leadership in no-till development and agronomy research with an induction into the Canadian Conservation Hall of Fame in Ottawa


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lafond, Guy People from Morris, Manitoba Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada University of Manitoba alumni University of Saskatchewan alumni 2013 deaths 1953 births