The Harrington Research Farm virtual tour

The Harrington Research Farm is an 800-acre field and greenhouse research facility within minutes of Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island. The Research Farm’s science activities focus on environmental sustainability, diversification and innovation in agriculture production for Atlantic Canadian producers. Take a virtual tour of the farm and discover the variety of agri-science research accomplished year-round.

Video transcript

[Gentle guitar music begins]

Text on screen: Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) – Harrington Research Farm

[A montage includes a variety of aerial views of the Harrington Research farm.]

[Dan Maceachern stands in front of a field and talks to the camera.]

It's part of the Charlottetown Research and Development Centre. It was originally called the Experimental Farm.

It was developed back in 1909 and at that time was developed because there was a need for varieties and research targeted for Atlantic Canada.

[A close up view of a wheat field and two tags attached to some crops labelled ‘2022 Spring Wheat’.]

Text on screen: Dan MacEachern – Biologist

I'm Dan MacEachern. I'm a research biologist here at the Charlottetown Research and Development Centre…

[Dan walks over to the wheat field and holds some wheat up to the camera.]

… and I oversee our variety testing and plant breeding program.

So the Harrington Farm is 800 acres in size.

[An aerial view of the crop fields.]

We have approximately 30 employees out here. There's about 110 employees total here at the centre. So about 600 acres is devoted to farming and research. The other 200 acres is woodland.

[Staff members work next to their machinery in the middle of a wheat field and Dan talks to a colleague who is kneeling down on the ground and working on equipment. Dan analyzes the wheat field as he walks along its edge.]

[Judith Nyiraneza stands in front of a field and talks to the camera.]

Text on screen: Judith Nyiraneza – Research Scientist

My name is Judith Nyiraneza, and I'm a soil scientist with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada in Charlottetown, and my research is about identifying management practices that enhance soil health.

[Judith stands amongst a corn field and holds the crops as she assesses them.]

The Living Lab Atlantic has the two main issues it’s addressing. So, the first one is to enhance water quality and enhance soil health.

[Judith kneels in a bed of potato crops and lifts potatoes out of the ground by its root. Cut to a close up view of the potato crops as sprinklers water the plants and Judith lifts a crop to examine it.]

So, more specifically as a soil scientist, we are testing different soil bathing management practices and those management practices include using the cover cropping, the manure use and conservation tillage. Those are the main areas we are looking at this moment.

[An aerial view of two greenhouses and the crop fields on the research farm, a close up view of the inside of the greenhouse and of the gathered plants. Cut to the inside of one of the buildings, two employees testing a piece of equipment, a close up of the equipment blowing seeds into a tube.]

[Rick Peters stands in front of a field and talks to the camera.]

Rick Peters: I'm Rick Peters and I'm a research scientist here with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada in Charlottetown.

Text on screen: Rick Peters – Research Scientist

And my specialty is plant pathology, mainly working on vegetable crops like potatoes and carrots and the diseases of those crops.

[A montage includes a close up of Rick as he drives down a road and passes by the crop fields and heads towards the buildings. Rick drives through a field and steps out of the vehicle. Cut to Rick leaning down to analyze some crops in a field and a close up view of a label in the ground, which states the plant hormone and a date.]

Dan MacEachern: This is my dream job and dream place to work.

It's fantastic. The people here are great.

[A group of employees standing next to their vehicles in the middle of the crop field.]

We have 16 different work groups here on the farm...

[A close up view of two rows of wild hops.]

...each one specializing in a specific area of research.

So, we have soil researchers, we have entomologists, we have cropping specialists, agronomy specialists, pathologists, chemists, weed scientists.

[An aerial view of the research farm and of the crop fields.]

We’re a very diverse research centre covering a lot of different research topics.

[A montage includes an aerial view of a combine-harvester driving through a crop field, a combine-harvester parked on the side of the field next to the paved road, employees working with machinery, an aerial view of the fields with various tractors and harvesters positioned throughout the fields and a combine-harvester harvesting through a crop field.]

Rick Peters: Across Canada, we have 19 research sites like the one here in Prince Edward Island. This is our only site here on the island. But across the nation we do have facilities that address the range of agricultural production that we see here in Canada.

[Cut to the front of the building of the research farm.]

Text on screen: Harrington Research Farm – Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC)

[Relaxing guitar music ends]

Text on screen: Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada – Agriculture et Agroalimentaire Canada

[Government of Canada wordmark]

[End]