Agribition Tech winners crowned

Your reading list

Three companies were crowned winners at the inaugural Canadian Animal Ag Tech Awards during Canadian Western Agribition in Regina.

The event spotlighted companies that have created technology for the livestock industry. Products ranged from water sensors to artificial intelligence-powered monitoring systems.

Other Agribition coverage:

Read Also

Stock dogs show off herding skills at Ag in Motion

Stock dogs draw a crowd at Ag in Motion. Border collies and other herding breeds are well known for the work they do on the farm.

Australia’s Smart Paddock received the Innovation Award. The company’s GPS ear tags allow producers to track and monitor their cattle. Producers can also track other assets such as vehicles, and monitor fence lines and water tanks with the company’s products.

Producers are looking for timely solutions to alert them to “stray or stolen animals,” says Darren Wolchyn, founder and chief executive officer of Smart Paddock.

FarmSimple, based at Vibank, Sask., received the Rising Star Award.

The company, founded by brothers Katlin and Dustin Lang, sells Herd Hand, a product that monitors remote water systems. Herd Hand texts producers if water runs low. FarmSimple in 2022 won an Innovation Award at the Ag in Motion outdoor farm show at Langham, Sask.

OneCup AI was awarded Business of the Year. The Canadian company uses artificial intelligence and cameras — a system dubbed Betsy — to recognize individual cattle and monitor nutritional intake, growth, lameness and other health indicators.

Producers can monitor animals through their smartphones or laptops, and the system will notify them in emergencies such as calving issues or animals escaping.

Other finalists included Flokk, Dyneval, CATTLEytics Incorporated and HerdWhistle Technologies.

Agribition was held Nov. 20-25.

About the author

Lisa Guenther is the senior editor of magazines at Glacier FarmMedia, and the editor of Canadian Cattlemen. She previously worked as a field editor for Grainews and Country Guide. Lisa grew up on a cow-calf operation in northwestern Saskatchewan and still lives in the same community. She holds a graduate degree in professional communications from Royal Roads University and an undergraduate degree in education from the University of Alberta. She also writes fiction in her spare time and has had two novels published by NeWest Press in Edmonton.