A soil testing company says half the samples processed from North Dakota and Manitoba are feeding into precision systems.  |  File photo

Eastern Prairies slow to adopt precision soil sampling

Soil scientist says it likely hasn’t caught on because flatter regions still have enough variability to warrant zone sampling

Glacier FarmMedia – John Brecker, soil scientist at Agvise Laboratories in North Dakota, says Manitoba’s soil testing trends echo what he sees in his state. About half the samples processed from both North Dakota and Manitoba are feeding into precision systems. “But in other areas, like South Dakota, Minnesota, or even Saskatchewan, about 80 per […] Read more

Ribbon cutting to celebrate the opening of EMILI’s Innovation Farms Centre. | Don Norman photo

FCC, EMILI renew partnership to improve farm productivity

Five-year commitment will last through to 2029 and provide foundation for “farmer-centric” innovations

Glacier FarmMedia – Farm Credit Canada and digital ag accelerator EMILI (Enterprise Machine Intelligence and Learning Initiative) have announced renewal of their partnership. The announcement was made Aug. 1 at EMILI’s Innovation Farms during the organization’s 4R Days and coincided with a ribbon cutting to celebrate the opening of the new 8,500-square-foot Innovation Farms Centre. […] Read more

The funding announcement coincided with the July 25 grand opening of the Enterprise Machine Intelligence and Learning Initiative's (EMILI) Innovation Farms Centre 20 minutes northwest of Winnipeg. | Screencap via emilicanada.com / David Lipnowski

Artificial intelligence research receives funding boost

Manitoba’s Enterprise Machine Intelligence and Learning Initiative receives $2 million funding boost from government

Glacier FarmMedia – The Enterprise Machine Intelligence and Learning Initiative (EMILI) has been granted $2 million in government funding to help drive innovation in Manitoba agriculture. The funding announcement coincided with the July 25 grand opening of its Innovation Farms Centre 20 minutes northwest of Winnipeg. “Manitoba farmers and producers are a critical part of […] Read more


Alec Godin, a summer student in Mario Tenuta’s lab at the University of Manitoba, takes a sample to measure nitrous oxide emissions from a canola field. Godin collected the samples at the EMILI Innovation Farms, a commercial scale smart farm north of Winnipeg. | Robert Arnason photo

Project searches for the perfect fertilizer blend

Manitoba researchers study ESN and anhydrous blends on canola as a way to achieve profits and protect the environment

Grain farmers want to maximize profitability. That’s not exactly news. But increasingly, Canadian grain producers are under pressure to reduce the impact of fertilizer on the environment. Government and grain buyers are asking Canadian farmers to manage fertilizer more carefully to cut nitrogen losses and minimize greenhouse gas emissions from crop production. One possible solution, […] Read more

Workers at Innovation Farms, northwest of Winnipeg, are installing sensors across the farm to collect data.

Navigating the Valley of Death

“Welcome to the ‘Valley of Death,’ ” the Saskatchewan Research Council says on its website. 
“This is where most potential innovations fail, where most investors become faint-hearted, and where most product or service developers give up.”



A large, tracked tractor pulls an air seeder rig near the highway on the Discovery Farm near Langham, Sask.

New members bolster national network of smart farms

Lethbridge College and Innovation Farms Powered by AgExpert have joined an initiative to promote smart farming


The initiative aims to improve productivity and sustainability of farmers and ranchers by encouraging greater technology use. The network was partly launched in 2021 by the Olds College Smart Farm and the Lakeland College Student-Managed Farm in Vermilion, Alta.