LANGHAM — Just like Ag in Motion, agricultural innovation has blossomed, boomed and spread in many directions.
That was obvious at the Ag in Motion Innovation Awards Monday night, in which a rich crop of innovative agricultural products were judged by a crowd of creators and manufacturers.
“The pace of change has accelerated,” said Richelle Andreas of S3 Group, which was involved in the Innovations Award Program.
“The world looks to Canadian agriculture as the most sustainable and innovative in the world.”
The competition was made up of five categories, each including three contestants. Their innovations ranged from a giant manure bio-gas tank-trailer to a simple plastic calf castration card, from analytical management systems to hand-held leaf-scanning apps.
The innovations generally arose from the eternal creator’s notion that there must be a better way to do this.
“I designed my TestiGrip to help me,” said Jodi Suchoplas of Durban, Man., whose simple plastic castration-aid card won the award in the Livestock category.
The winners were:
Agronomics: CropScan Ag for its On-Combine Grain Analyzer;
Business Solutions: Ultimate Yield/The Rack for its Hedgehog fuel price hedging program;
Environmental Sustainability: Lemken Canada with its Equalizer Air Tine Drill for vertical banding;
Livestock: TestiGrip with its self-named castration aid device;
Equipment: Advanced Tank Production for its Bio-Gas Manure Tank Trailer.
Ag in Motion’s ten-year anniversary was noted and celebrated by a number of speakers, with the growth of the show lauded as a sign of the strength of the Western Canada agricultural economy.
AIM Manager Rob O’Connor recalled when he and Glacier FarmMedia President Bob Willcox sat together in a car and talked through what AIM could be, before there ever was a show.
O’Connor noted that in its first year, AIM had 200 exhibitors. The next year it had grown to 320. Last year it had 580. This year it has swelled to 607.
Saskatchewan Agriculture Minister David Marit said his province is the hub of a world-renowned ag-tech industry, something AIM highlights.
“It’s not a myth. It’s fact,” said Marit.
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