EMILI welcomed close to 70 attendees to Innovation Farms powered by AgExpert for the first in a series of AIVA Network Demo Days that will take place across Canada in 2026. The event provided farmers, investors, and others in the ecosystem an opportunity to connect with agtech innovators while learning how the Agriculture, Innovation, Validation, and Adoption (AIVA) Network tests and validates new agtech at validation hubs such as EMILI’s Innovation Farms.
EMILI is proud to be a founder of AIVA, alongside Farm Credit Canada (FCC) and the Wabash Heartland Innovation Network (WHIN). The event was hosted by the AIVA Network, which connects farmers, innovators, and validation hubs to bring proven agtech solutions to market and derisk technology adoption.
Guests engaging in activities at AIVA Demo Day (Photo credit: EMILI).
EMILI was thrilled to welcome Manitoba’s Minister of Innovation and New Technology, Mike Moroz, to share remarks on the impact of work taking place to drive agriculture innovation in Manitoba. Attendees also heard from John Cassidy, Managing Director of SVG Ventures Thrive and Peter Frey, Chief Operating Officer at Spade Technologies as they announced and celebrated the launch of Spade’s Canadian Headquarters in Manitoba thanks to investment from SVG Ventures.
“For innovation to drive economic growth in our province, we have to help proven technologies reach scale. EMILI looks forward to supporting Spade by connecting them with the agtech ecosystem to grow their business here in Manitoba.” said EMILI CEO Jacqueline Keena.
Speakers and presentations at AIVA Demo Day (Photo credit: EMILI).
Presentations highlighted agtech innovation
Janel Fazakas from FCC AgExpert shared how AgExpert Field’s Sustainability Regional Benchmarking software can provide insights into soil and crop health to support good crop management decisions.
Kevin Falk presented on Corteva Agriscience spray drone trials and his research into whether fungicides applied by spray drone deliver similar efficacy compared with ground-based applications.
Greg Stewart shared how Geco Strategic Weed Management’s AI tool is being used on EMILI’s Innovation Farms to assess two separate use-cases using their AI software to predict where weed zones are likely to occur, including herbicide-resistant weed patches.
Zachary Andersen from Picketa Systems LENS™ provided insights into how in-field tissue scans taken throughout the season can provide farmers with valuable information on plant nutrients.
Technology demonstrations at EMILI’s Innovation Farms (Photo credit: EMILI).
EMILI is proud to be a founder of AIVA, alongside Farm Credit Canada (FCC) and the Wabash Heartland Innovation Network (WHIN). By expanding on the success of the validation model developed by EMILI’s Innovation Farms, combined with WHIN’s farmer adoption model, and FCC’s investment in the Canadian agriculture and food industry, AIVA is well-positioned to, as their mission states, “champion Canada to be a global leader in agtech innovation.”
Learn about EMILI projects in collaboration with the AIVA Network here.