Inductees

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Don Hart's pioneering work in developing conservation tillage systems had a significant impact on the sustainability of Ontario's cropland.

After graduating from the Ontario Agricultural College in 1953, Don assumed the management of his family's dairy farm and ultimately shifted to beef production where he could take better advantage of the rapidly expanding Ontario corn industry.  He then shifted his farm's production to a larger array of cash crops such as grains, soybeans, and winter wheat.  Don had an elevator and platform scales on farm and knew what his actual yields were each year, keeping detailed records to make fact-based decisions on crop inputs. He had seed test plots, fertility, and tillage trials on his farm and his increased productivity was a result of his use of innovative technologies.

At the same time, he knew that the soils in Oxford County were very prone to soil erosion, exacerbated by the use of the moldboard plough.  Don began to work on this issue with three other like-minded Oxford County producers as well as with the Oxford Soil and Crop Improvement Association. After a trip to Australia, he saw how a chisel plough system could be used to leave crop residue on the ground, thus helping to protect the soil from erosion, and building organic matter at the same time.  He returned to Ontario to develop planting systems to minimize tillage and create a suitable seed bed while leaving the residue on the soil surface. This  early conservation tillage system has evolved into strip till planting on the farm today.

Don often spoke at farm meetings across Ontario to talk with farmers about the improvement of the long-term health and productivity of their soils.  He was also a strong proponent for planting trees as windbreaks, and in those areas on farms not well suited to crops.  He was the president of the Oxford Soil and Crop Improvement Association in 1965 and wrote the history of this association in 1990 titled “The First Fifty Years”.  He was also a board member of the Oxford County Cattlemen's Association and a member of the Ontario Corn Council.

From Don's advocacy for soil health and his data-driven approach to improving crop yields, came a profound change in tillage practices across Ontario.  This led to major changes to the planting and tillage equipment available to farmers and ultimately to the use of herbicides.  Don was often the farmer who permitted the use of his farmland to demonstrate new equipment, technologies and techniques, and he was quite forthright in his opinions about what could accomplish the job or not.  He also sponsored many farm research projects on his land, primarily focused on soil conservation and improved cropping techniques.  As an innovator and a respected and successful farmer, Don's extension work convinced many crop producers to adopt new practices to conserve and enhance soil fertility.

Donald Wallace Hart is an important addition to the Ontario Agricultural Hall of Fame.