Meeting Notes - Bridget Mahon, WFA - February 28th, 2025
New Members:
Janice LeBoeuf – Arrell Food Institute (UofG)
Shahpour Alirezaee – University of Windsor
Paige Handsor – Match Realty
Jackie Pepper – Match Realty
Rick Nagel – Red Top Berries
Paul Moote – Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada
Spencer Laidlaw – Carl Laidlaw Orchards
Wilmer Melissant – ALGRO Farms Inc.
John Brennan – Lapis Technologies
Amanda Pilot – Ontario Hazelnut Association
Russell Buchanan – University of Waterloo
New members, please be prepared to briefly introduce yourselves and touch on why you joined the group.
Presentations:
Speaker: Bridget Mahon
Company: Western Fair Association
Subject: Western Fair Association Overview
Conferences/Meetings/Field Tours/Demonstrations
· London Farm Show – London, ON – March 5-7, 2025. https://www.londonfarmshow.com/
· Ottawa Valley Farm Show – Ottawa, ON – March 11-13, 2025. https://ottawafarmshow.com/
· Grand River Agricultural Society Spark V4 Symposium – April 15, 2025. https://gras.blitzen.com/form/SPARK-V4?_kx=gv4KhsjF7Taf829EsAP_FBSQc6SwAbP_wM0LpF8ox-PLjhd-etCIX4l20HUQLINo.UUrNv6
· AgRobotics Working Group Demo Day – Bradford Research Station – July 8, 2025. Registration details to come
· AgRobotics Working Group Demo Day – Simcoe Research Station – July 22, 2025. Registration details to come
Attendees at recent conferences, please be prepared to provide a brief update to the group.
Project Updates
· In-Person meeting will be a panel of speakers including Jana Tian from Upside Robotics, Matt Stevens from Finite Robotics, Cory Derycke of Harvest Corp, and Stefan Glibetic of Mycionics. New flyer highlighting speakers, please feel free to share.
· Research sub-committee please confirm your availability for a meeting to review proposals
Action Items From Previous Meeting(s)
Job Board
Konnexio – Controls Engineer
If you know of any job opportunities, please send the information to us so that we can add them on our website at the below link.
https://www.agroboticswg.com/job-board
Funding Announcements/Opportunities –
· Canada Business App https://ised-isde.canada.ca/site/ised/en/canada-business-app
· Canadian Agricultural Strategic Priorities Program https://agriculture.canada.ca/en/programs/canadian-agricultural-strategic-priorities - Open until March 2029
· COLLABORATE 2 COMMERCIALIZE https://www.oc-innovation.ca/programs/collaborate-2-commercialize/ - Ongoing
· Agri-Innovate - AgriInnovate Program: Step 1. What this program offers - agriculture.canada.ca - Open until March 2028
· OMAFRA/SCAP Funding Announcement and Program Details Link - Sustainable Canadian Agricultural Partnership | ontario.ca - Open until March 2028
· The Grow Ontario Accelerator Hub : Bioenterprise - Open until March 10
· OCI Critical Industrial Technologies Initiative - https://www.oc-innovation.ca/programs/cit/ - Ongoing
· CAAIN Open Competition - https://caain.ca/funding-calls/2024-open-competition/ - Open Intake
· TCS Canadian Technology Accelerator delegation to BEYOND2025 in Macau - https://www.tradecommissioner.gc.ca/cta-atc/macao-entertainment-technology_technologies-divertissement-macao.aspx?lang=eng - Deadline March 31, 2025
· FoodTech Next Program – Program Guide – Intake opens February 24, Deadline May 26, 2025
Round Table
Other Items/Articles
Cover Story: Taking plantations into the 4.0 era
The Future of Farming: AI Takes the Plow! Meet the Robots Growing Your Food.
A robot invention that sprays a fine mist of water and nutrients directly onto the roots
Autonomous Agricultural Vehicles Optimized Using Hybrid Quantum
TTA-ISO introduces fully automated tomato harvesting robot
TerraForce secures $375K to advance AI-driven robotic harvesters for melons and pumpkins
Meeting recordings will be posted to our website approximately 4 weeks later. https://www.agroboticswg.com/meetings
*Call for speakers/presentations – If you are interested in giving a presentation or have a recommendation of someone who you think would be a valuable speaker, please email Dan or Bridget.