Conservation Ag
Consulting Group
Investing in and accelerating organizations to drive sustainable innovation.
What we do
We are passionate about sustainability.
We believe in the reality of a sustainable agri-food sector. By working with our extensive network within industry, academia, government, and rural communities, we tackle problems through unified solutions.
We bring a unique understanding of the Agricultural industry with a grassroots perspective to develop customized, unique strategies that meet client needs. ​Learn more about who we are...
Who we are
Our team at Conservation Ag is focused on enabling sustainability and innovation in agriculture through a change management approach.
Tori Waugh
President and CEO
A member of the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture’s Soil Action...
As a member of the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture's Soil Action Group, Tori has advised public and industry efforts o drive sustainable innovation in agriculture on boards such as The Soils @ Guelph Initiative, The Grain Farmers of Ontario’s Ontario Cover Crop Strategy Committee, the Soil Health Marketing and Communications Committee, the Ontario Soil Health Assessment Protocol Advisory Committee and Foodbridge's supply chain partnership steering committee. She holds a BSc and MES from the University of Guelph and was a 2022 Clean 50 Awards emerging leader.
Ian Virtue
Communications Coordinator
Ian holds degrees in Digital Journalism and Communication, Media, and Film, along with...
Ian holds degrees in Digital Journalism and Communication, Media, and Film, along with a diploma in Full Stack Development. As Communications Coordinator, Ian combines his background in storytelling, digital strategy, and web development to translate complex agricultural science into accessible, actionable content for farmers and stakeholders. He led the development and launch of a joint venture podcast for a number of aligned clients, using storyboarding and knowledge mobilization strategies to connect research with real-world practices while amplifying farmer voices and promoting soil health.
Paige Allen
Program Coordinator and Analyst
Paige holds an MSc in Capacity Development and Extension...
Paige holds an MSc in Capacity Development and Extension from the University of Guelph, where she researched farmer behaviour and the linkages between social and behavioural factors and willingness to implement cover crops in Southern Ontario. Paige employes her expertise in facilitation and community engagement to manage and deliver programming for CAG-C’s clients. Paige utilizes her experience in qualitative research to collect and analyze data that contributes to evaluating and reporting on the impacts of our work.
Lorraine Vandermyden
Research Coordinator and Analyst
Lorraine holds a M.Sc. in Environmental Science...
Lorraine holds a M.Sc. in Environmental Science from the University of Guelph. Her thesis investigated the environmental and agronomic impact of nitrogen loss inhibitors on nitrous oxide emission in winter wheat. She was also a scholar in the CREATE in Climate-Smart Soils (CREATE-CSS) program - a multi-institutional soil-centered program advised by Dr. Claudia Wagner Riddle, where scholars develop a strong understanding greenhouse gas emissions and sequestration, as well as knowledge surrounding carbon protocols and inventory analysis.
Our Services
Conservation Ag focuses all our work around three important foundations: ​
Big Picture Thinking
We bring insights and relationships from farm and wide to help our clients see the 'art of possible'.
Social Capital & Trust
​We put people and community at the forefront of all our work to form lasting relationships.
Tenacious Sustainability
We have achieved outstanding results with our clients in the name of a better future.
Program Design and Implementation
Our work has accelerated client organizations to build research, innovation and development partnerships, educational and innovation adoption initiatives, and supply chain partnerships, bringing together thousands of stakeholders to maximize impact, build stakeholder value, and accelerate innovations for a net-zero transition. We are the minds behind such program as: The Network Challenge, and the FIRE program.
Research and Insights
The Conservation Ag Group brings years of experience in qualitative and interdisciplinary research methods, as well as co-development and on-farm applied research, that can be applied to a wide range of situations in different sectors. Focused on solution based outcomes, our team brings a customized approach to all our work to deliver high quality results. Our ability to collaborate with researchers from multiple disciplines creates opportunities to explore problems and issues from new perspectives, resulting in fresh insights and recommendations.
Capacity Development
We are an impact-first venture studio, investing in and accelerating client organizations, managing governance, business development, finances, human resources and operations, and have grown our client organizations to triple in size, securing $2.5 million in funding and $9.5 million in contracts since 2020.
Business Model Development
We have led a $7M supply chain partnership formation and landscape assessment and program development to build client value in verifying and marketing environmental outcomes from regenerative agriculture programs for the emerging environmental outcomes marketplace.
CLIENTS
We work with the best
Laurent Van Arkel, Chair of the Ontario Soil Network
"If change happens at the speed of trust, the CAg team is riding a rocket."
Dr. Laura Van Eerd, Chair of Soils at Guelph, University of Guelph
"CAg's work is always on point and ahead of the curve - they're big-picture thinkers, and their actions show it."
Sebastian Belliard, The Nature Conservancy
“CAg brings incredible business acumen to the clients they work with and the resulting growth is astounding.”