There is a giant grain silo.

But the Hive Motherbin, as it’s called, is more than just a larger-than-usual storage container sitting in the middle of a field. It’s a boon for productivity – at least that’s what researchers hope.

“(It’s) a huge change in efficiency,” said Leanne Koroscil, head of innovation farms at the Enterprise Machine Intelligence and Learning Initiative (EMILI).

She spoke on a panel at the fifth EMILI agricultural conference Thursday in Winnipeg. Participants discovered the productivity and innovation of the sector.

EMILI is testing a new agricultural technology. On stage, Koroscil was joined by representatives of similar Canadian entities, called “smart farms.”

The group is facing a slowdown in agricultural innovation. Meanwhile, Canada’s population has grown, more residents face food insecurity, and the United States is moving toward protectionism, impacting global trade.

So the grain silo is a big problem,” Koroscil explained.

It cuts the need for combine operators and truck drivers in half during harvest by acting as a central, portable storage unit, reducing the arduous process of moving grain throughout the field, Koroscil said.

Elmer’s Manufacturing built the product and showcased it this year on EMILI’s Innovation Farms site. This trash can was one of two in North America. Often, companies evolve their products after testing them in innovation farms.

“When I hear stories about smart farms and bringing in different ideas… I get really excited about that,” said Craig Klemmer, director of thought leadership at Farm Credit Canada.

He spoke to a crowd of about 260 people on Thursday. He highlighted a two-decade stagnation and then decline in Canadian agricultural productivity.

Productivity is measured by comparing operational inputs (money, labor, etc.) against outputs. The goal is to increase production by becoming more efficient, Klemmer said.

“We want to be more productive on the same amount of land, grow more food and achieve higher value-added production – that’s a very important priority,” Jacqueline Keena, EMILI’s managing director, said later.

Klemmer imagines “a whole bunch of little changes” contributing to increased productivity. New management practices, seed technologies and resource use are among the avenues to try, he said.

In Ottawa, autonomous tractors are circulating in Area XO Robotics, drones and artificial intelligence are also being tested, noted business development director Susanne Cork.

Weeds are destroyed by lasers at RHA Ventures in Ontario. At Olds College in Alberta, researchers collect data to create farm-specific predictive algorithms.

“I firmly believe that Canadian agriculture – our farmers, our engineers, our scientists… is truly the best in the world,” said Joe Dales, who represented RHA Ventures, a 2,000-acre cash crop operation and smart farm . “It’s great to have this innovation… (but) why not? It’s up to us to do it.

One of the biggest challenges for innovative startups is financing, Dales noted. He has seen companies put “sweat, blood and tears” into their businesses, only to find themselves strapped for cash.

Another obstacle is gaining the trust of farmers, Koroscil pointed out. Growers often have advisors they have trusted for decades and are inundated with sales pitches.

Smart farms are here to de-risk new products – demonstrating that these products work – but EMILI is nonetheless a relatively new company gaining traction.

“We’re not asking them to trust us,” Keena said. “We say, ‘Hey, look at the results,’ and it comes from a business operation.”

EMILI is an unbiased perspective, Koroscil added, emphasizing that it does not sell any products.

“I think there are a lot of operations that do things the way they do because that’s the way it’s always been done,” Klemmer mused.

In Canada – and across all sectors – the country has seen no productivity growth in recent years, notes a March report from the Bank of Canada.

Raising productivity is necessary to address future threats that could lead to higher inflation, such as global trade tensions, demographic shifts and the economic impacts of climate change, the report said.

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Gabrielle Piché
Journalist

Gabrielle Piché reports on the affairs of Free press. She completed an internship at Free press and worked for its sister store, Canstar Community Newsbefore entering the business beat in 2021. Learn more about Gabrielle.

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