Manitoba positioned to champion agricultural innovation

Before June’s G7 summit in Kananaskis, Alta., the national farm organizations from each member country released a joint statement. The text emphasized how G7 farmers find themselves at the crossroads of numerous global challenges — “maintaining productivity in the face of market instability, ensuring food security amid geopolitical uncertainty, and adapting to climate imperatives without sacrificing competitiveness.”

However, “with the right tools, policies, and support,” said Keith Currie, the president of the Canadian Federation of Agriculture, “farmers can continue to lead the way toward a more sustainable and secure future for all.”

Manitoba can, and should, be at the forefront of these efforts.

Our province is home to world class manufacturers such as MacDon and Elmer’s Manufacturing who design and manufacture equipment right here in Manitoba before shipping it around the world.

We are also home to one of Canada’s only full-scale commercial smart farms. Since launching Innovation Farms powered by AgExpert in 2022, EMILI has seen first-hand the importance of supporting technology that empowers producers and increases economic and environmental sustainability across the Prairies.

If Canada is to realize its place as a global leader in digital agriculture, the time to act is now.

One reason is necessity: agriculture and agri-food are central to our province’s economy and communities. When combined, they are responsible for the majority of provincial exports and one in 20 Manitoban jobs.

Another reason is timing: discussions are already underway between federal, provincial and territorial (FPT) governments to craft a successor to the Sustainable Canadian Agricultural Partnership, or S-CAP. Originally scheduled to be held in Winnipeg this July, in-person FPT meetings have been postponed till fall due to wildfire complications, with the Manitoba government convening virtual discussions in the interim.

Launched in 2023, the five-year, $3.5-billion agreement created a suite of programs to position Canada as a world leader in agri-food production and environmental responsibility. However, S-CAP lacked serious attention to digital technology trends within the sector. It was a missed opportunity — one that must not be repeated in whatever deal comes next.

Instead, the next FPT agreement must meet the moment wherein the global economy is rapidly digitizing and true wealth generation stems from ownership of intangible assets — mainly data and intellectual property. Canadian producers currently still face too many barriers to accessing the emerging tools and technologies, and harnessing their data in value-added ways beneficial to them.

Feeding into producer demand for digital tools will support Canada’s vibrant ecosystem of domestic agtech companies as well. This includes Made-in-Manitoba success stories like TerraWave, Bushel Plus and Agi3, among others. Bringing new products to market is always a challenge — in specialized industries like agriculture, even more so. Without strong customer uptake of a new product or service, it can be difficult for startups to scale up.

To strengthen the Canadian agri-food sector federal and provincial governments must act now to make digital agriculture a national strategic priority. This could come in several forms, each detailed in a recent research report, The future is digital: Digital agriculture and Canadian agriculture policy, produced by the Canadian Agri-Food Policy Institute and EMILI.

First, support for digital agtech adoption must be a core pillar of FPT policy framework agreement.

At the same time, provincial and territorial governments should develop their own 10-year digital agriculture action plan to drive strategic policy responses over a longer time horizon.

Second, governments should fund and facilitate the creation of regional digital agriculture hubs to address these issues and facilitate collaborative projects to develop and adopt digital agriculture tools in real life settings, tailored to regionally specific needs. EMILI’s Innovation Farms is a perfect example of this type of model already in action, testing more than 30 agtech solutions and welcoming hundreds of visitors this growing season alone.

Governments and technology companies should collaborate to compensate producers for large-scale testing of mature technologies, aiming for numerous sites across the country with more than 5,000 acres active in commercial technology testing by 2030.

Fourth, the federal government should foster the development of markets that leverage agricultural data to provide tangible value to farmers, such as premium pricing for traceability in export markets.

In the Netherlands, for example, Dutch fruit and vegetable growers can earn higher prices by proving their produce is pesticide-free using farm data.

As organizers of this year’s FPT meetings Manitoba has the opportunity, experience and expertise to be a true champion of digital agriculture by placing it high on the agenda and weaving it prominently into talks around the group’s next agreement.

There’s no time to waste.

Jacqueline Keena is managing director at EMILI, and a professional agrologist with degrees in agribusiness and public policy.