Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, June 1st, 2023 – The Canadian Agri-Food Automation and Intelligence Network (CAAIN) today unveiled the seventh story of a nine-part series highlighting results of the AgTech research & innovation projects it has funded during its first two-and-a-half years of formal operations.
CAAIN’s mandate from Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada is to fund technological responses to the most significant opportunities and challenges facing the nation’s agriculture producers and primary processors. That means supporting promising efforts with the potential to provide economic or environmental value. Today’s story demonstrates CAAIN is doing just that.
“According to Cereals Canada, over the past three years, the average estimated total annual impact on the Canadian economy from wheat, barley, durum, and oats was $68.8 billion. That’s ‘billion,’ with a ‘B,’” noted Dr. Cornelia Kreplin, CAAIN’s Interim CEO. “Yet grain sampling technology has advanced very little in the past 100 years, remaining essentially a manual process. With that in mind, you can understand why we are so enthusiastic about the project whose story we’re unveiling today, and why its success can be a real difference maker.”
VeriGrain™ Development, Validation, and Commercialization carries a relatively modest $1,541,509 total cost, of which CAAIN provided $693,598. Already in use in numerous North American locations, the VeriGrain technology ensures grain samples are representative and securely stored, so characteristics can be accurately determined and certified. The grower and buyer can have greater confidence in their transaction because of a digital record that offers complete traceability. This is a solution that offers tremendous value and deals with an issue of real significance to the global agri-food sector: A buyer’s ability to trust grain quality, and therefore be more inclined to reward the farmer with an optimal price for the product.
Read the story here.
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The Canadian Agri-Food Automation and Intelligence Network (CAAIN) is a not-for-profit company launched in July 2019 with funding of $49.5‑million from the Government of Canada’s Strategic Innovation Fund, and assistance from Alberta Innovates in the form of significant in-kind contributions. CAAIN drives collaborative agri-food technology research and innovation from coast to coast by performing three core functions. First, it supports the development of promising solutions to important challenges facing producers and primary food processors. Second, it is building an online, member-based network connecting Canada’s agricultural and technology stakeholders. Third, CAAIN is developing a digital platform to link nationwide, production-specific networks of smart farms, which will collaborate to validate and demonstrate emerging technology in diverse locations across the country.
| Project Funding Inquiries Dr. Cornelia Kreplin Interim CEO Canadian Agri-Food Automation and Intelligence Network cornelia.kreplin@caain.ca |
Media Inquiries Eric Morin, CMP Manager, Communications and Marketing Canadian Agri-Food Automation and Intelligence Network 780.405.3742 | eric.morin@caain.ca |
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