March 26, 2025

Hello <<First Name>>

When it comes to agtech innovation, the Canadian Prairies hold a vital opportunity, and agriculture is one of the few sectors where concerted action could lead to big productivity gains in relatively short order. EMILI Managing Director Jacqueline Keena discusses this in her recent opinion piece on the importance of investing in agtech (If you missed it in the Winnipeg Free Press, make sure to click on the link below to read it). Canada is recognized as a leader in agriculture innovation, and it makes us proud to see so many Made-in-Canada solutions being tested and validated on Innovation Farms powered by AgExpert. Watch for an announcement of this year's projects in the months ahead. 

In this month's newsletter:

• Want productivity growth in Canada? Invest in agtech
• EMILI's legal guidebook on farm data ownership; 
• Aquahacking challenge tackles critical water issues;
• EMILI uses ozobots to introduce youth to agtech; 
• Save the date for Agriculture Enlightened 2025;
• More upcoming events;
• Reading and listening.

Thanks for being part of our community. If this email was forwarded to you, we hope you enjoy this edition enough to subscribe. Every month we share new content highlighting how digital agriculture is transforming the agriculture and agri-food sector.

The EMILI Team

Want productivity growth in Canada? Invest in agtech

Read EMILI Managing Director Jacqueline Keena's opinion piece on the importance of investing in agtech innovation to provide producers with cost-effective, sustainable ways to increase productivity on their farms. This article was published in the Winnipeg Free Press on Thursday, March 20. Read more. 

EMILI’s legal guidebook provides practical approach to understanding farm data ownership

EMILI has released a guidebook to help individuals working in the agri-food sector; including farmers, technologists from digital agriculture technology (agtech) companies, agronomists and other stakeholders, understand key legal issues connected with the use of agricultural data. It focuses on farm data ownership; who has access to farm data, and what is done with the data once collected, managed or processed by an agtech company. Learn more. 

Aquahacking challenge tackles critical water issues

This month, EMILI kicked off its participation on the advisory committee for this year's version of AquaAction's annual hackathon. This year, the AquaHacking Prairies Challenge will focus on tackling critical water issues affecting the region’s vast and interconnected ecosystems by bringing together students from multiple disciplines to find solutions to regional water issues and work together to innovate, inspire, and collaborate with local changemakers. Learn more. 

EMILI uses ozobots to introduce youth to agtech

Each year during Canadian Agriculture Literacy Month, Agriculture in the Classroom invites volunteers to Manitoba classrooms to teach youth about agriculture through fun and interactive activities. Over three weeks of classroom visits, EMILI team members are making connections with more than 65 students from Grades 1 to 4, providing a hands-on introduction to coding while teaching youth about the diverse careers and technologies that exist on the modern farm. Learn more.

Save the date for Agriculture Enlightened 2025

Join us Thursday, October 23, 2025 for Agriculture Enlightened. Since 2020, this conference has brought together a diverse stakeholder group including agri-food and technology experts, industry leaders, decision-makers, researchers and students from across the prairies. To be the first to know when registration opens and speakers are announced, sign up to save your seat! We encourage you to share our recent LinkedIn post to help us spread the word. 

More upcoming events

• Startup TNT Top 20 Pitch Night | April 3
• Startup TNT Agri-Food Investment Summit Finale | May 1
• AGRI Tech Venture Forum | May 6-7 
• AIC Conference Showcasing Innovation  | May 6-7

Reading and Listening

• EMILI celebrates women in agriculture | EMILI
• Two new vice-presidents for CFA | The Western Producer
• Startup TNT-FCC partnership | CKRM
• Bushel Plus expands footprint | Real Agriculture
• Software add-on helps farmers measure sustainability metrics | Grainews
• The pros and cons of new technologies | Country Guide
• Human + AI >> Human only  | Software is Feeding the World
• Coyotes on the digital fence line: managing cybersecurity risk | Real Agriculture
• Food companies work with researchers to further innovation | UM Today