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ABOUT US
Built For One Problem.
To run honest field trials so biological inputs can earn a grower's trust.
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What 40+ Trials Across Two Continents Taught Us
Biological inputs can dramatically change what a field returns. In the right conditions, a biological input delivers yield and soil response that justify every acre it goes on.
The difficulty is knowing where those conditions are. Results vary across soils, crops and seasons, and no single trial separates the product from the field it ran on. That takes repetition, on ground that resembles the grower's own.
We're Not Reinventing the Wheel
Strip trials have been run this way for decades. Our focus is on doing them well. Honest reporting, real touchpoints, a data package worth reading, and time spent in the field.
Who Runs the Trials
Cal Duncan founded ERA Grow after 5 years working in the biochar industry, developing products for a practice that has always faced friction in the farming community. Getting growers to adopt something new meant proving it on their ground first, and trial work became the thing he was best at. That skill turned out to apply to most biological inputs, not just carbon.
Cal designs the trials and writes every report with a team of 4. It's his number at the bottom of the page, and it's an open line seven days a week.
Clustering
We cluster trials inside a single buying region rather than spreading them across the province. Growers see each other's strips, neighbours compare notes, and a result from ten minutes down the road carries more weight than twenty scattered across Ontario.
Visibility
The agronomist sees results from farms he already advises. The co-op sees a product working in its own trade area. By harvest, the product isn't a brochure — it's something people in that territory have already talked about.
The Province
Farms sit close enough together to run four proper touchpoints without losing days to driving, and the soils change enough between counties that a region is worth proving on its own.
Where We Work
Southern Ontario, one region at a time.
Recent Research
Beets
Test Year: 2026
Product tested: Microbial inoculant, in-furrow
Design: 4 treatments, untreated check, high OM loam
Result: +39% root weight and +52% shoot biomass over the untreated check, with 22% more marketable beets per strip
Barley
Test Year: 2025
Product tested: Biochar, custom blend vs. commercial product
Design: 4 in field trials, untreated control, Chernozemic soils.
Result: No yield gain. Root growth and drought tolerance improved.
Potatoes
Test Year: 2026
Product tested: Microbial inoculant, in-furrow
Design: 4 treatments, untreated check, high OM loam
Result: 96% more weight harvested, from 39% more tubers averaging 0.171lb → 0.241 lb.
Most 2026 trials are in the ground now, with results published October 15 2026. In the meantime, the full 2025 report is available.
