EN FR

Improving on-farm logistics and food traceability

Technology
TECHNOLOGY PRIORITY

Grow

PROJECT TIMELINE
February 2020 to December 2022
PROJECT STATUS
Fund I: Complete
TOTAL INVESTMENT
$8,575,290

Consortia Contribution
$3,842,798

Cluster Contribution
$4,732,492

PARTNERS

Provision Analytics

Skymatics

Verge Technologies

Coutts Agro

Goal

To put together a usable and complete Farm Level Dataset and create a tool by which the farmer can access or share this dataset. This Farm Level Dataset will then be leveraged by Provision Analytics, First Pass, and Skymatics in order to help solve specific issues faced by farmers.

Project Summary

The partners used digital mapping and optimization technologies from partners from Verge Technologies and Skymatics and the expertise from Coutts Agro to help farmers improve their in-field operations by capturing information around input application, fuel use and more.

Provision Analytics then used the dataset to create linkages to support food traceability, transparency and key metrics associated with energy efficiency.

Results and Impact

  • Worked collaboratively to understand and model data of weather, agronomic, geospatial, soil and more. The collaboration helped partners to start modelling different sustainability considerations as well.
  • Partnered with Purdue University in Indiana, gaining full collaborative access to their horticulture faculty and affiliate network.
  • Verge started a collaborative R&D project with Digital Technology Supercluster, Simon Fraser University, and with industry partners like Terramera, iOpen Technologies, and Quantotec, focused on developing a digital twin for broadacre crop, specialty crops, and controlled environment agriculture.
  • Hired five undergraduate students, with three at Provision and two at Verge.
  • Attracted international talent of multiple employees, resulting in one employee moving to Canada.
  • Reduction of on-farm fuel consumption by an average of seven per cent per acre, using Verge’s new product.
  • Increase in number of employees, including increase of female employees at both companies.

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