“We believe the claim referenced in your email does not have merit and we are defending against it,” said Laura Workman, general counsel and corporate secretary with Farmers Edge in an emailed statement.

“It’s business as usual at Farmers Edge.”

Former investors in Manitoba-based ag tech firm Farmers Edge have asked the B.C. Supreme Court to certify a class action lawsuit against the company, former leaders and its main shareholder.

Vancouver resident Willson Leung and Ottawa resident Philippe Golin, both identified as former shareholders in Farmers Edge, filed the suit on February 22.

Farmers Edge is a digital agronomy firm that offers services such as variable rate nutrition management and FarmCommand, a data management and analytics platform.

Farmers Edge, founder and former CEO Wade Barnes, former chief financial officer David Patrick, Fairfax Financial Holdings and several financial underwriters are named in the suit asking for a combined total of $270 million in damages.

“Defendants misrepresented material facts about the Company’s business. The Plaintiffs bring this action on behalf of FE securityholders who suffered losses as a result of these misrepresentations in the primary and secondary market for FE securities,” says the statement of claim.

None of the allegations have been proven in court. No statements of defense have been filed.

The statement of claim says the company was heavily indebted via debentures owed to Fairfax, its major shareholder, and was unable to secure additional capital at the time it launched its initial public offering in March 2021.

It also alleges that it overstated the number of partnerships and the nature of the relationships it had with companies that it said would assist in marketing or promoting the company’s products to farmers.

It further alleges that Farmers Edge misrepresented its income from farmer subscriptions to its products.

Barnes declined to comment on the statement of claim. David Patrick and Fairfax Financial have not responded to requests.

In its IPO, Farmers Edge sold nearly 7.4 million shares at $17 per share for total gross proceeds of about $125 million, according to a company news release.

On the day the company went public in March 2021, Barnes told media the company would use the new funding — totalling a little over $125 million — to build on its vision of digital farming.

“We’ll be scaling up our teams to grow the business,” he said. “We’ll also be developing new products.”

However, share prices dropped steadily and the company was beset by financial woes. Barnes left the company in early 2022. In August 2023, it announced it was laying off 20 per cent of its workforce and consolidating operations in North America.

At the beginning of 2024, Farmers Edge inked a deal with Fairfax to sell all common shares for 35 cents apiece — at the time, Fairfax owned 61 per cent of the company’s shares — and to take the company private again.

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The move to go private comes nearly three years after Farmers Edge’s initial public offering (IPO) when shares started at $17.

A newly-formed Fairfax subsidiary intends to purchase in cash all common shares Fairfax and its affiliates don’t already own, Farmers Edge said in a news release. Fairfax currently owns more than 61 per cent of the company’s shares.

Farmers Edge announced it was considering a proposal from Fairfax in November with an offer of $0.25 per share.

The transaction is expected to be closed in the first quarter of this year following approval by shareholders, the release said.

Farmers Edge, founded in 2005 in Pilot Mound, Man. by agronomists Wade Barnes and Curtis MacKinnon. Barnes left the company in March, 2022.

On the day the company went public in March 2021, Barnes told media the company would use the new funding — totaling a little over $125 million–to build on its vision of digital farming.

“We’ll be scaling up our teams to grow the business,” he said. “We’ll also be developing new products.”

However, the digital agronomy firm was beset by financial problems. In August, it announced layoffs of 20 per cent of its workforce and consolidation of operations in North America. It also shuttered its Australian operation.

–Geralyn Wichers is associate editor of AgCanada. She writes from southeast Manitoba.

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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 facing agri-food producers and processors. CAAIN CEO Darrell Petras said this competition would expand on the network’s previous goals.

“This is building on an initiative that we at CAAIN have run in the past, and that is supporting the use of smart farms to build a network, or networks across Canada.”

“We are focused on helping innovators reach the farm gate,” he said. “Ultimately, what we want to do is drive production at the farm level, increase productivity, increase the efficiency, support the farmers.”

“It will be a competitive process,” Petras said, “but we’re certainly open minded in terms of who comes forward, what regions and what types of technologies they bring to us.”

“This is an emphasis on collaboration to make sure we’re driving… the right technology forward for adoption.”

According to a December 8 CAAIN press release, the competition will build on the $30 million CAAIN has already committed to 30 projects whose value is over $100 million.

Proposals will be evaluated based on several criteria, including technical merit, breadth and knowledge of network members and economic and social benefits to Canadian ag-tech and agriculture. More eligibility guidelines apply and can be found on the program guide.

Petras described the smart farm network as a “test market” for new ag technology across Canada.

“Just because the technology works in Alberta for particular type producer doesn’t mean same technology work the same way in Ontario or another part of Canada,” he said.

There are currently eight smart farm locations across Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Ontario. Petras said he thought all regions across Canada could benefit from smart farm expansion.

“We just want to reach as many as many producers as we can en masse and then connect them,” said Petras. “It could be an extension of what’s already being… within an existing network, or it could be a separate network.”

Initial applications must be in by Jan. 12. The competition term will begin in June 2024. Successful networks must complete their activities by September 30, 2026.

–updated Dec. 14 to correct the name of Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada.

— Jonah Grignon reports for Glacier FarmMedia from Ottawa.

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Farmers Edge made the announcement via a media release on Nov. 16.

It said it had a received a non-binding proposal from its majority shareholder, Fairfax Financial Holdings Limited, which would see Fairfax acquire all common shares the company doesn’t already own at 25 cents per share.

When the company made its initial public offering (IPO) in March 2021, it did so at $17 per share.

Fairfax owns more than 61 per cent of Farmers Edge’s shares.

Farmers Edge said it has formed a committee of independent directors to evaluate the proposal and to “explore potential alternatives, including maintaining the status quo,” the news release said.

There is no timetable set for the committee to complete its review.

The digital agronomy firm has been beset by financial problems for some time. In August, it announced layoffs of 20 per cent of its workforce and consolidation of operations in North America. It also shuttered its Australian operation.

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