At its recent Agriculture Enlightened Conference, EMILI launched a new report, 2023 Accelerating Digital Agriculture, summarizing the work that has taken place over the past few years to advance the adoption of intelligent technologies and provide people with the skills and training required to succeed in a digital economy.

As an industry-led non-profit, EMILI sees first hand how the potential of artificial intelligence and machine learning is transforming the agriculture and agri-food sector. This is leading to increased innovation and wider integration of technology solutions to drive productivity and sustainability. It is also highlighting the importance of cross-industry collaboration to empower people with digital skills, support startups to grow in the prairies, and accelerate Canada’s growth as a leader in digital agriculture.

We are proud of EMILI’s ability to work closely with producers, industry, and academia to provide people with the connections, skills, training, and resources they need to succeed.

The launch of Innovation Farms Powered by AgExpert in late 2022 has allowed us to partner on a number of projects to increase the development and adoption of on-farm technology and grow the digital agriculture ecosystem here in Manitoba and across the Prairies.

From the recent construction of the Innovation Farms Centre to joining the Pan-Canadian Smart Farm Network, to collaborations with industry leaders such as PrairiesCan, Rutherford Farms, MacDon, Farm Credit Canada, and Enns Brothers, this initiative has increased our ability to share best practices and provide industry and academia with exposure and access — at commercial scale — to cutting-edge equipment and emergent technology to address specific regional needs and opportunities.

To cement Canada’s status as an agricultural leader will require years of sustained investment and progressive industry leaders with a commitment to innovation. The support we have received represents a big investment in the future of digital agriculture in Canada to expand technology and education initiatives across, and beyond, the Prairies. EMILI is proud to be part of this.

We encourage you to read EMILI’s 2023 Accelerating Digital Agriculture Report, where you will find key examples of this work over the past few years.