A Manitoba-based organization is looking to advance digital agriculture by supporting innovative technology integration and creating opportunities for students and entrepreneurs to pursue careers in the field.
“In 2022, we led a variety of projects in partnership with industry and academics to provide the digital ag ecosystem with more skills, training and resources,” says Jacqueline Keena, managing director of the Enterprise Machine Intelligence and Learning Initiative (EMILI). “Our work is focused on building knowledge and developing new technologies that increase sustainability and productivity. The projects we engage in represent a big investment in the future of digital ag in Canada, and we will continue to accelerate innovative technologies and provide people with the skills and training to support a strong digital ag sector.”
Last year, in partnership with Farm Credit Canada, EMILI launched Innovation Farms Powered by AgExpert. The project creates space for EMILI to partner with producers and industry to support research. It’s centred around the day-to-day operations of a full-scale commercial seed farm. Support also comes from Rutherford Farms, Enns Brothers, Family of Jake Enns Innovation Fund, John Deere Canada and Access Credit Union.
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Innovation Farms Powered by AgExpert is located near Winnipeg on Rutherford Farms, which has many years of historical data compiled from sensors located across 5,500 acres. Farm owner Rick Rutherford has shared this data with EMILI to provide a benchmark for future trials and demonstrations. A 100-acre area is devoted to giving startups the space to test and validate so they can show investors their progress and scale up sooner. For example, the area is used by University of Winnipeg researchers working with EMILI to create a database of millions of labelled images of Prairie crops and weeds that will lead to development of a new crop-identification algorithm.
Strengthening the data ecosystem
The EMILI Data Initiative helps build knowledge and skills on important questions related to ag data, including data ownership, privacy and interoperability.
“As agriculture increases the adoption of data-intensive digital tools, questions arise about privacy, data ownership or confidentiality that farmers as business owners have not previously encountered,” says Keena. “Similarly, there may be uncertainty about how new systems will interoperate with existing software tools. Working through these issues and managing the associated risks is central to the successful acquisition and integration of new digital technologies.”
In 2023, EMILI will continue to grow the Innovation Farms Powered by AgExpert project, place sensors and conduct testing across the farm and seek collaborators and innovators who are looking to test and validate at the full-scale commercial farm.
Data will be collected using FCC’s AgExpert software.
“As we partner with startups and scale-ups to test new technologies, AgExpert software will be a tool we rely on to explore different approaches to all aspects of the crop cycle to better understand the impacts of the choices made on the farm,” says Keena.
In 2023, EMILI will also increase the integration of intelligent technologies and build new collaborations with smart farms and post-secondary institutes.
“For example, EMILI is planning to develop an agriculture innovation platform to collect and share results globally, increasing opportunities for collaboration and knowledge sharing,” says Keena. “This includes sharing best practices and working collaboratively with members of the Pan-Canadian Smart Farm Network as well as the Innovation Corridor in the Midwest United States.”
Open for collaboration
Keena says collaboration is key to fostering innovation.
“If you are interested in partnering on projects that increase integration of intelligent technologies, empower people with digital skills, support scale-ups to grow in the Prairies, and/or accelerate Manitoba’s growth as a leader in digital agriculture, we want to hear from you,” she says.
“While we are based in Manitoba, our projects have an impact across Canada, and we have partnerships in Manitoba and Canada-wide.”
Keena says a highlight of 2022 was EMILI’s annual Agriculture Enlightened Conference.
“Our 2022 event included panel discussions with high-calibre speakers and the chance to learn more about the launch of Innovation Farms Powered by AgExpert, the significant achievements of the Explore Project, and the continued success of the EMILI Data Initiative.”
The next Agriculture Enlightened conference will take place in Winnipeg and online on October 26, 2023.
Recruiting the future
In 2022, EMILI continued its ongoing partnership with Actua, Ag in the Classroom and Protein Industries Canada to advance the Explore Project, delivering programming to youth in K-12 with a focus on STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) to build skills for careers in digital agriculture, plant protein and the agri-food industry.
“Since the Explore project launched in 2021, there have been more than 58,000 youth engaged, including more than 11,000 Indigenous youth across the Prairies,” says Keena. “This surpasses the project’s original goals and demonstrates the strong desire out there for programming that introduces youth to STEM and digital ag skills.
“We already know that Canada is facing a skills and labour shortage in agriculture that is projected to grow to a total shortage of 123,000 workers.”
