Katlin Lang is co-founder of FarmSimple Solutions, a company that provides a water trough sensor for remote watering system. He’s pictured here at last year’s Ag in Motion.
 Photo: John Greig

Sask. government researching water quality with ag tech

At the Livestock AgTech Happy Hour at Ag in Motion on July 16, 2024, Chelsey Siemens, a livestock and feed extension specialist with the province, said they are doing a research project through ADOPT (Agriculture Demonstration of Practices and Technology), looking at how FarmSimple can be used to monitor sulfate levels over the summer.






Some ag tech startup companies continue to get funding, but it isn’t as much or as likely as during the pandemic years. Photo: Avalon_Studio/iStock/Getty Images

Ag tech venture capital stays on sidelines

Entrepreneurs need patience, more plan to achieve profitability to unlock investment

Agriculture venture capital investment was an outlier in 2023, as it increased slightly over 2022, according to the Canadian Venture Capital Association (CVCA). However, that news belied pessimism on the state of ag tech at the recent Agri Tech Venture Forum in Toronto. The forum heard that the availability of capital for agriculture technology entrepreneurs has dried up significantly compared to the heady days of investment growth during the pandemic years.

A DOT (now OmniPower) autonomous unit at work on the Olds College Smart Farm. (Olds College video screengrab via YouTube)

Smart farm competition encourages farmers to adopt technology

Competition will serve as opportunity to create and develop smart farm networks

The Canadian Agri-Food Automation and Intelligence Network (CAAIN) is seeking applications for a competition geared toward creating or developing new smart farm networks. Funding under this initiative will support collaborative on-farm tech innovations in hopes encouraging farmers to adopt emergent agriculture technology. CAAIN receives funding from Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada to address challenges […] Read more