Meeting Notes - Foresight Canada, Heather Crochetiere - April 4, 2025
New Members:
Blaise Eygub – AgriTech North
Usha Alapati – Grainguru Technologies Inc.
New members, please be prepared to briefly introduce yourselves and touch on why you joined the group.
Presentations:
Presenter: Heather Crochetiere
Organization: Foresight Canada
Presentation: agriNEXT: Cultivating Canadian Agtech Innovation
Conferences/Meetings/Field Tours/Demonstrations
· Rainy River Ag Day - Chapple, ON – April 5, 2025 https://www.facebook.com/events/1238722740718452/?_rdr
· Thunder Bay Soil & Crop Improvement Association Spring Farm Conference – Thunder Bay, ON – April 8-10, 2025. https://www.facebook.com/thunderbayscia?locale=ku_TR
· Earlton Farm Show – Earlton, ON – April 11-12, 2025. https://ofa.on.ca/event/earlton-farm-show-2025/
· Grand River Agricultural Society Spark V4 Symposium – April 15, 2025. https://gras.blitzen.com/form/SPARK-V4?_kx=gv4KhsjF7Taf829EsAP_FBSQc6SwAbP_wM0LpF8ox-PLjhd-etCIX4l20HUQLINo.UUrNv6
· Discovery X – Toronto, ON – April 16-17, 2025. https://www.discoveryxconference.ca/home
· Jelly Academy Digital Marketing Bootcamp – Begins April 16, 10 weeks -https://jellyacademy.ca/digital-marketing-bootcamp-funding-2025 Deadline to Apply April 15
· AgRobotics Working Group Demo Day – Bradford Research Station – July 8, 2025. Registration details to come
· ASABE Annual International Meeting – Toronto, ON – July 13-16, 2025. https://www.asabemeetings.org/#two
· 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
We will be moving forward with OCTE and the proposal that was submitted to us for a robotics competition
Action Items From Previous Meeting(s)
Job Board
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
· 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
· FoodTech Next Program – Program Guide – Intake opens February 24, Deadline May 26, 2025
· THRIVE Global Impact Challenge - https://thriveagrifood.com/thrive-global-impact-challenge-2025/ - Deadline May 25, 2025
Round Table
Other Items/Articles
Raising the Next Crop of Farmers: Technology Reshaping Agriculture, Creating New Careers
How Drones are Revolutionizing Crop Monitoring
College team unveils AI-powered robot that could transform how we grow food: 'Truly exciting'
FarmWise AI-powered weeding tech ‘commercially ready’ despite company restructuring and wind down
Possible application of agricultural robotics in rabbit farming under smart animal husbandry
Oishii acquires robotics company Tortuga AgTech, extends harvesting capabilities
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.