AI is a powerful, multi-purpose technology that has the potential to hyperoptimize on-farm activities to a more precise level than ever to help farmers reduce costs, manage data, and increase productivity.
Of the 30+ equipment and technologies being demonstrated and tested on EMILI’s Innovation Farms powered by AgExpert in 2026, a third involve AI.
“AI can be a valuable tool to optimize decision making,” said EMILI Innovation Farms Manager Leanne Koroscil. “As data quality improves and AI platforms continue to evolve, the value they can deliver to farmers will only increase. But realizing that potential requires ongoing testing, greater data literacy, and building the trust and confidence farmers need to integrate these tools into their operations.”
By deploying technology in a fully-operational Manitoba farm setting, EMILI is able to validate what works and provide innovators with feedback on areas of improvement.
“Ground truthing the technology is critically important to ensure it is solving a problem for farmers and providing accurate data insights,” said Koroscil. “AI models don’t always get it right. Our team spends hours in the field counting weed populations, checking soil moisture levels, evaluating environmental conditions, and collecting agronomic measurements to provide boots-on-the-ground validation of what works and what doesn’t.”
Evaluating AI-powered technology in potato crops, irrigation, and storage
Potatoes are a significant crop in Manitoba where potato fields make up 20 per cent of Canada’s potato acreage. In 2023, the province exported $711 million worth of potatoes and potato products. At EMILI’s Innovation Farms MacGregor site, AI-powered tools are being tested and demonstrated in potato crops, irrigation systems, and storage bins.
An Agi3 Crop Sentry station provides advanced, field-level insights to empower data-driven decisions on crop growth, health, and yield. The AI-driven platform provides 24/7 crop monitoring and analytics throughout the growing season.
An Autonomous Pivot Centre Pivot Monitor collects continuous data such as crop growth stages and weather forecasts to provide real-time insights that optimize irrigation and alert growers to crop pests and disease risks. A unique feature is its ground penetrating radar which enables soil moisture monitoring without needing to drill a soil moisture probe into the ground.
Early disease detection is especially important in potato crops, which are prone to black dot and early blight. One technology that addresses this is the BioScout Airborne Spore Monitoring System. It uses AI and robotic microscopy to autonomously track airborne fungal spores in real time, helping to identify disease risk before symptoms are visible in the field.
“It lets you understand, with a traffic light system, what level the spore counts are in the field and how you should act, when you should act,” said Koroscil.
Once the potatoes are harvested, they are transported to storage bins until they are ready to be processed at facilities such as Simplot, one of four major potato processors in Manitoba.
Potato storage issues can drive significant losses for producers. Looking for a way to mitigate this risk led EMILI to Canadian agtech startup Cellar Insights.
Cellar Insights technology is installed in several areas of a 150,000 CWT (hundredweight) capacity potato storage bin where it monitors the storage environment and sends alerts if it detects spoilage risk. The company is working to refine its rot-risk alert system and advance shrink tracking, sprout detection, spoilage, and other key issues.
Working with EMILI gives Cellar Insights access to season-long potato storage data sets in order to train and validate its models under real stress, including warm and cold snaps, ventilation regimes and mixed equipment.
Demonstrating the impact of AI on a commercial grain and oilseed farm
About 100 kilometres away, at EMILI’s Innovation Farms Grosse Isle site, AI-powered technology is deployed in a number of crops including wheat, oat, barley, corn, soybeans, peas, and canola in order to demonstrate what better data, automation and precision systems can do on the farm.
Healthy soil is essential to a strong, productive crop. EMILI is evaluating the quality of Miraterra Technology’s AI companion’s analysis and insight outputs. The Canadian soil insight company uses geospatial tools, measures chemical and physical properties, and combines data with the world’s largest proprietary soil DNA library to capture a holistic understanding of the soil.
As EMILI validates Miraterra in a Manitoba context, the same technology is being tested across Canada as part of the AIVA Network. EMILI is a co-founder of AIVA and one of four validation hubs, providing a national lens on how the technology works across Canada’s diverse agricultural regions.
Another technology deployed across the AIVA Network is Geco Strategic Weed Management. Since 2023, EMILI has been assessing the performance of its AI software. This includes validating its weed detection and prediction technology as well as examining the impact of weed pressure on yield. This year, EMILI is collaborating with AIVA to evaluate weed and yield modeling responses to variable rate (VR) inputs, performing weed scouts in unique treatment areas throughout the growing season.
EMILI is collaborating with BASF to advance digital crop optimizaton. Demonstrating and gathering feedback on the xarvio® FIELD MANAGER platform, EMILI is evaluating the tool’s ability to provide precise, field-specific crop management advice on a full-scale Manitoba farm. The digital software platform combines growth stage and disease modelling, weather and satellite data, along with field history, to provide real-time agronomic recommendations.
EMILI is working with OpticAg to validate how its Connected Farm Platform and AI-driven decision models help farmers improve operational visibility and decision-making. The platform brings together farm data, weather information, and sensor data into a single operational view, helping farmers identify issues sooner and make more informed decisions across their operation.
The AI-driven Agi3 Crop Sentry system, deployed at both the MacGregor and Grosse Isle Innovation Farms sites, is equipped with long-range LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) and high-resolution multispectral cameras. EMILI works closely with Agi3’s engineers and data scientists to gather the precise data needed to inform its AI and machine learning systems. This includes crop observation data not always available with standard farming practices, such as precision agriculture data, and drone surveys of specific fields and experimental zones.
The farmer’s job is not over at harvest. As crops are moved from fields to storage bins, farmers must decide where and when to sell for the highest returns. With this in mind, EMILI is testing and validating grain market insights from GrainFox’s Sinoa, a made-in-Manitoba, AI-powered grain market analyst. By asking Sinoa a series of questions throughout the growing season, EMILI is assessing its accuracy, reliability, and market relevance.
What all of these tools have in common is their aim to make it faster and easier for farmers to make increasingly complex decisions. Technology can save farmers time and money, but before it can be adopted across more Canadian farms, it needs to be demonstrated in settings similar to the ones farmers are working in across the Canadian Prairies.
By providing innovators space on a full-scale commercial farm, EMILI is able to evaluate the benefits of technology in real-world settings.
“We’re a risk mitigator for producers interested in adopting technologies but not sure which ones are ready for commercial use, or the right fit to meet the needs of their farm,” said Koroscil.
Visit EMILI’s Innovation Farms to learn more about these projects and other activities. EMILI hosts field tours and demonstrations on Innovation Farms throughout the season to showcase new agricultural technology, expand innovation opportunities, and increase understanding and adoption of digital tools.
EMILI Communication Manager Jennifer Cox will be among four panelists exploring AI innovation in Manitoba at an upcoming AI Innovation in Manitoba Pathways Workshop taking place in Winnipeg, June 25, 2026.