Ahead of Ag in Motion, exhibitors gathered in Saskatoon Monday night for the Ag Innovation Awards.
There were three finalists in each of the five categories: Agronomics, AgTech, Business Solutions, Environmental Sustainability, and Equipment. A panel of eight judges selected the winner in each category.
The Agronomics Award went to ATP Nutrition for its product Synergro G3, a shelf-stable, granular bio-stimulant powered by microbial metabolites.
The Innovation Award for Ag Tech went to Phiber Manufacturing for its DASH drone carrier.
Phyber Director of Sales, Steve Froese said it allows farmers and agri-business to become more efficient using drones for spraying.
“We can handle four drones at a time. We have the capability of carrying about 2,300 gallons of water, plus several totes of chemical, and we have hot tanks that will allow you to put chemical into the hot tank with water, pre-mix it, and when your drones come in, they come in and they land on top of an open platform that occurs simply by pressing buttons - we have a tablet that operates the complete mechanism. The drone comes in, a battery can be changed out, the drone can be filled with product, and the battery is replaced and it's sent out.” explained Froese.
The Phiber Manufacturing booth - number 424 - is located on 4th Street at the Discovery Farm site.
The Innovation Award for business solutions was given to AGI3 Risk Services.
It has modelling to price crop yield risk in real time. Another product called ForwardProtect insures growers against the risk of forward contracting canola and spring wheat, protecting them if yields fall short and prices rise.
The Innovation Award for Environmental Sustainability went to Green Lightning and Nytro Ag Corp. Their product uses electricity to pull nitrogen out of the air and fixes it to the water.
"The Green Lightning, which Nytro is the Canadian distributor of, has created a machine that takes atmospheric nitrogen and converts it into a plant soluble form using plasma electricity." said Chris Nykolaishen with Nytro, adding there are 11 patents that have been filed with this technology.
Nykolaishen says involvement with Green Lightning started two years ago and since then development has progressed quite well.
"The technology has come a long way from last year to even this year. Last year we were making a product that had success, but had varying degrees of success. This year, with the new developments and the redesign of the heads within the machine, we are seeing a much greater percentage of success with the farmers who are using it.” he said.
The Green Lightning Booth is at the corner of 4th and Alberta.
The Equipment Innovation Award went to Thunderstruck Ag Equipment for the Razer’s Edge concave. It reduces crop damage and eliminates the need for cover plates on the combine.
Producers are encouraged to check out all five Innovation Award winners and then vote for the Farmer Choice Award, which will be announced next week.
(With files from Neil Billinger, CJWW)
