(Agri-Trade)

By rdnewsNOW Staff

Competing for $25,000

Agri-Trade Equipment Expo announces 2022 Ag Innovations finalists

Oct 4, 2022 | 10:45 AM

The 38^th Agri-Trade Equipment Expo is set to open at Westerner Park this year in Red Deer from November 9-11.

For three days, attendees can explore the newest equipment, technology, innovations and services in the agriculture industry.

“Innovation is the lifeblood of agriculture, and Agri-Trade is where agricultural producers get to experience it first-hand,” said officials in a release.

Each year companies are invited to enter their ideas and advancements into the Ag Innovations program. This year will mark the 14^th year of the program with the chosen top five finalists competing at the event for a $20,000 grand prize on Thursday, November 10 at 3:00 p.m.

Using a perfect pitch style format, each finalist will be given five minutes to present to a panel of judges. Attendees will also get to vote for the “Farmers Choice Award” winner who will receive $5,000.

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“With the increasing number of applicants in Ag Innovations, the committee is finding evaluating a daunting task as every entry offers something to the agricultural community,” said Craig Shaw, Ag Innovations Committee Chair. “To bring us down to the five finalists and their relevance in the western Canadian market took careful consideration. We look forward to their presentations at Agri-Trade this year.”

The top five finalists are:

1. ATP NUTRITION (NUTRISCAN): a hand-held, diagnostic soil testing technology giving farmers access to a complete soil test (soil characteristics, macro and micro nutrients, base saturations) in less than five minutes with the aim to help maximize the efficiency of fertilizers, reduce overuse and to allow organic carbon monitoring to support sustainable agricultural practices. It also claims to be the only sensor spectral technology that is calibrated for Western Canadian soils. According to NutriScan, less than 35 per cent of fields are being soil tested. With high fertilizer and crop commodity prices, they say farmers are trying to balance their fertility budget while pushing their crop’s genetic yield potential.

2. OPEND RANGE LTD (COWGO LOADING SYSTEM): aluminum livestock hauling chute, custom fitted to a cattle liner for loading and unloading. Taking under one minute to set up, the Cowgo aims for quicker loading and unloading of livestock for commercial and private users, giving a standard cattle liner the capabilities of a ground load trailer. With the goal of increasing ease and efficiency, the Cowgo claims to decrease the cost transporting pasture cattle by using less equipment, manpower and fuel per head per mile.

3. PRAIRIE GRAIN ANALYZERS INC (PGA AUGER SAMPLER WITH INTERGRATED MOISTURE ANALYZER): automatic auger sampler taking continuous even sized samples from the grain auger and analyzing the grain on the spot for moisture and weight data on the flow, to help farmers properly dry and aerate their grains. The company says the real-time results could be averaged for each pail, truck load, or bin on the phone application, eliminating the step of reducing and dividing the grain sample manually. They state the readings give ±0.3 per cent accuracy versus the ±3 per cent accuracy on the moisture cables traditionally installed in grain storage bins.

4. PRECISION AI (PRECISION SPRAY DRONE SYSTEM): creating the world’s first autonomous Precision Spray Drone System with ZeroDrift™ for broad acre crops and tested on Canadian Farms. The company states that while current broad acre sprayers have been instrumental in crop protection applications, a more sustainable approach must be found when bare ground is being sprayed. They say crop decisions are brought to the individual plant level using artificial intelligence, targeting field spraying from the air with a drift free drone platform and auto refill and charge hive design to reduce over spraying, resulting in chemical savings.

5. SEEDMASTER (ULTRA SR): the first single rank precision seeding tool on the market, the fully integrated seeding system combines the dual-knife opener and UltraPro II metering to deliver the seed and fertilizer directly from individual meters straight to the openers without having to distribute through towers and manifolds. The company claims it ensures gentle handling, near-zero seed mortality, and planter-like singulation in a single pass unit.

“We look forward to showcasing these finalists along with the rest of the exhibitors at Agri-Trade this year,” said Krissy Fiddler, Agri-Trade Operations Manager.