Innovative farm partnership between EMILI and FCC advances digital agriculture
Enterprise Machine Intelligence and Learning Initiative (EMILI) is pleased to announce a partnership with Farm Credit Canada (FCC) and the renaming of its innovation farm as Innovation Farms powered by AgExpert.
Including FCC’s farm management software, AgExpert, in the name and on the farm signals the value both EMILI and FCC place on growing Canada’s digital agriculture system. The 5,500-acre full-scale production innovation farm near Winnipeg will use AgExpert software as part of its testing, research, and technology development.
“The AgExpert partnership is an exciting opportunity to further deliver results on the work underway on the farm,” said Ray Bouchard, EMILI’s board chairperson. “Leveraging the tools AgExpert offers will help us deliver data to the industry and producers who are invested in applying best practices and new technology to support their operations.”
The continued success of Canadian agriculture relies on its ability to focus on adopting technology, attracting a skilled and diverse labour force, and embracing sustainability, all of which supports profitability on the farm.
Innovation Farms powered by AgExpert is one part of a larger project that will see EMILI work with FCC to build a Canadian network of agriculture technology, knowledge, and labour to address the changing needs of the agriculture industry.
“Innovation Farms is an important next step in the application of intelligent technologies in agriculture and the evolution of smart farms across Canada. We intend to develop real-world digital agriculture solutions that will give Canadian producers the edge in a quickly changing industry,” said Bouchard. “This project reaches several key areas we see as drivers in the shift the industry tells us it needs to see.”
EMILI’s four strategic priorities are:
• Innovation and research
• Skills, training and talent development
• Intelligent technology
• Capital enablement
Each is designed to create a network of people and practical solutions to position Canada as the creator and adopter of digital agriculture technology.
EMILI takes a holistic approach to growing the digital agriculture ecosystem. That means putting resources into key areas that together will create job opportunities through skill development, generate investment in start-ups with a focus on women and Indigenous peoples and provide the technology development and adoption to connect Canadian producers to new and profitable ways of operating.
Key projects on Innovation Farms powered by AgExpert will include climate change mitigation, disease and pest management and water use for production agriculture.
“EMILI’s ability to develop partnerships like Innovation Farms powered by AgExpert is a testament to what can be accomplished when the agriculture industry comes together,” says Fred Wall, FCC’s marketing and digital agriculture vice-president.
“We all know the challenges facing agriculture and we can meet them when we put our energy and resources into the right places. We are driving the future of agriculture by connecting the people, ideas and opportunities and harnessing the advantage of working together.”
EMILI’s approach is rooted in industry support, including partnering on this project with Farm Credit Canada and AgExpert.
The Enterprise Machine Intelligence and Learning Initiative (EMILI) is an industry-led non-profit organization established to accelerate the growth of the agri-food industry in the prairies by promoting digital agriculture and digital agriculture technologies. EMILI’s digital agriculture expertise is based on its membership and connections to the digital agriculture, plant protein industry, and agri-food sector. EMILI works with industry organizations and academic institutions from across the technology sector.