Manitoba seeks to grow reliable innovation

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 25/07/2024 (460 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

GROSSE ISLE — The artificial intelligence train has left the station, and Manitoba is on board.

“Projects like this are an easy ‘yes,’” Premier Wab Kinew told a crowd Thursday outside the new Innovation Farms Centre — a space for analyzing data and testing nascent technology.

Nearby was 5,500 acres of farmland often filled with sensors, cameras and the occasional drone.

The provincial and federal governments announced a $2.025-million boost for the Enterprise Machine Intelligence and Learning Initiative (EMILI), the non-profit behind Innovation Farms.

Kinew said the “AI train has left the station” and it’s in the province’s best interest to create digital technology products for agriculture, one of Manitoba’s largest economic sectors.

The Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement will potentially be renegotiated in 2026. Building new agriculture-specific tech will help meet the needs of both Manitoba’s “most important” southern trading partner and farmers at home, Kinew highlighted.

“Farmers have been loud and clear with us, saying: ‘Tech is great, innovation is great, but we can’t afford to take a risk on our operations,’” the premier continued. “It has to be proven. It has to be reliable.”

And so, the province has slated some $810,000 for EMILI; Ottawa will give roughly $1.2 million. The money comes from the Sustainable Canadian Agricultural Partnership.

Long-term sustainability measures will be easier and more affordable for producers because of the funding and resulting research, Kinew touted.

The announcement has helped cement another five years of operation for EMILI, board chair Ray Bouchard said.

The private sector has also played a major role in upkeep of operations: between 40 per cent and 50 per cent of EMILI’s support, through cash or in-kind, has come from industry, Bouchard estimated.

He ballparked $8 million to $9 million as required for the next five years’ operations. “That kind of support from industry … shows you that there’s a need and an opportunity.”

Over the past years, consumers and farmers have sought better information on where their crops are grown and what’s happening during each cycle, Bouchard added.

Each year, producers get better at addressing productivity and sustainability issues while incorporating technology, he said.

“(But) we’ve not found a way to really capture all that data and put it all together,” Bouchard said. “We have to find a way to really leverage all that data.”

Innovation Farms has more than 20 projects in the works. It’s a meeting place for start-up entrepreneurs and producers (of largely grain and oilseeds farms) to collaborate and provide feedback.

Current projects include tracing grain from field to buyers and using special cameras to scan crops 24 hours per day, monitoring plant health and yield potential.

EMILI began in 2016; it opened Innovation Farms two years ago. Last year, the crew brought out its drone while working with Geco Agriculture on predictive weed control.

The company tested its proactive weed management product in Grosse Isle. Now, it’s operating on 95 fields — a spike from the three it had worked on pre-Innovation Farms, Bouchard said.

Farmers can use the product to identify where herbicide-resistant weeds will pop up and take proactive measures — it’s a good thing for crop yields, noted Jacqueline Keena, EMILI managing director.

“AI will continue to be this important tool that farmers and agronomists use,” she said.

Until recently, Innovation Farms’ operations mainly took place in Manitoba’s warmer months. EMILI unveiled an 8,500-square-foot, year-round centre Thursday.

Data from more than 50 sensors will amalgamate in the building. There, users can analyze data, try new technology and hold workshops.

Innovation Farms uses seed retailer Rutherford Farms Ltd.’s acreage. EMILI has another 50 to 70 acres for smaller research work, said Bouchard, who’s also president of Enns Brothers.

gabrielle.piche@winnipegfreepress.com