The third annual Ag in Motion, Western Canada’s Outdoor Farm Expo was held July 18-20 just outside of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. Ag in Motion gives companies and farmers a chance to connect and see a huge amount of new equipment and crop technology.
Not only do farmers get a chance to see and test brand-new products at Ag in Motion, but companies get the chance to showcase their new technology, and even win an award.
Farmers Edge, DOT Technology Corp., and PBD Biotech Limited won awards for their innovations in the farming industry at this year’s Ag in Motion.
The Innovations Program features three categories: Innovation in Agribusiness Service, Innovation in Equipment Technology and Innovation in Crop or Livestock Technology. Plus, a People’s Choice winner was selected.
Innovation in Agribusiness Service:
The award for Innovation in Agribusiness Service went to Farmers Edge for their new FarmCommand Scouting app. The FarmCommand app is a tool designed to help farmers monitor field conditions.
Using its map based interface, the app helps farmers save time while scouting crops, identifying issues, and finding a solution. The easy-to-use system lets you share your observations with your whole team.
Farm Command is the first mobile scouting app integrated with the FarmCommand system. The FarmCommand Scouting app includes new Field Variability Maps that are designed to detect early-season issues better than the standard health maps that rely on infrared technology.
Innovation in Agriculture Equipment Technology & The People’s Choice Award:
DOT Technology Corp. amazed farmers at Ag in Motion with their global launch of the DOT Power Platform along with a series of specifically designed implements. It won two awards, the Innovation in Agriculture Equipment Technology and the People’s Choice Award.
The DOT Autonomous Power Platform, or DOT for short, is the world’s first fully autonomous farming machine, meaning that it drives and steers itself (with the help of some very sophisticated mapping technology).
Autonomous or self-driving tractors have been in the proto-type phase for five to six years, but the DOT is the first that will be commercially available in North America.
The DOT replaced a traditional with a set of hydraulically driven, independent wheels in a u-shaped configuration. Without a cab and without the weight of a ballasted towing unit, implements are mounted into the DOT power Platform. Using only one platform, you can connect to a spraying implement, seeding implement, tillage, and more. The idea being that with one machine you can now control all or most of your farms implements rather than having separate tractors for your different implements.
It also takes away the need and cost of hiring an experienced operator. Finding qualified operators for farm equipment has been a challenge for many farmers, especially smaller operations who rely on help or hired labour to get through the busy times. With the DOT, one farmer could control all of the implements with only one tractor, and eliminate the hassle of finding someone qualified to drive a large machine.
People couldn’t walk away from the DOT over the three days of Ag in Motion, and there was a constant flow of people around the DOT booth and machines to see live demonstrations. Being one of the most popular items at this year’s show, it wasn’t a shock to see DOT Technology win the People’s Choice Award as well as the award for Innovation in Agriculture Equipment Technology.
While the DOT has been officially launched, it will be a while before we see them scattered throughout the prairies. This year six pre-selected buyers were picked to help DOT and their sister company SeedMaster fully test the DOT Power Platform and its different implements. Plans for further distribution are in motion for the upcoming year.
Innovation in Crop or Livestock Technology:
PBD Biotech Ltd. is a U.K. based company with proven technology for diagnosing bacterial infections in animals. PBD Biotech’s technology offers rapid detection and characterization of mycobacterial infections such as bovine tuberculosis.
This technology also has applications in terms of disease control, herd movement, food safety, and epidemiology. Because of this ground breaking livestock technology, PBD Biotech won the award for Innovation in Crop or Livestock Technology.
Only three companies could be chosen for this year’s awards, but Ag in Motion was thrilled with number of farmers and companies participating in this year’s event. Plans are already underway for Ag in Motion 2018, so if you or your company missed the show this time around you’ll have another chance next summer.
Media Contact:
Amanda Macfarlane
Communications Manager, Ag in Motion