Grainswest - Tech 2026

Tech 2026 Grains West 24 FEATURE Headquartered in Edmonton, The Canadian Agri-Food Automation and Intelligence Network funds Canadian ag tech research and development across the agrifood value chain. It has collectively awarded its latest cohort of six projects $1.7 million to advance their products and services. These include a digital marketing platform for livestock feed and a crop-specific Drought Severity Index for daily monitoring at the regional and farm level. Ox + Plow Ag is a Calgary venture studio that invests in the development of technologies in partnership with the owners of these products. It will receive up to $330,000 to develop the FeedXchange feed procurement app created by Red Deer area dairy farmer Styn Nieuwenhuis. Aimed at farmers, feed brokers and nutritionists, it’s intended to increase efficiency and decrease expenses on dairy farms, feedlots and other livestock operations. These typically handle feed one of three ways, explained Ox + Plow CEO Kevin Frankowski. They may purchase prepared feed or grow their own and do the necessary ration balancing. The third option is to purchase and self-blend ingredients, especially high-protein, nutrient rich co-products such as canola meal, spent grain from brewing and distilling and grain screenings. These are typically only available through brokers. The purchaser must make numerous inquiries about constantly fluctuating price and availability. FeedXchange simplifies this. “The brokers don’t need to field those phone calls,” said Frankowski. “The information is on the app. The broker inputs the pricing formula, and the app calculates the rest, including estimated transportation price.” Access to guidance from a nutritionist is also in the app’s development plan. A commercial release is expected by mid-2027. A.U.G. Signals of Toronto, ON, has received $595,000 to develop its crop-specific Drought Severity Index (DSI). A tool for agronomists and farmers, it is intended to aid decision- making across dryland and irrigated acres. The system will employ multiple data sources to calculate crop stress and assess drought conditions on farms and across regions. The company has worked in remote sensing since 2014, including crop mapping, phenology monitoring, pest and disease prevention and control and yield forecasting. Moisture conditions influence all these factors, noted Ting Liu, A.U.G.’s executive director. Drought indexes have been published for years, but have not delivered field-scale variability. To do so, the DSI will use AI to analyze remote sensing data such as satellite imagery and weather data while addressing crop type and growth stage. The goal is a field-level snapshot of moisture conditions while AI forecasts drought progression. This will support farm decision-making, said Liu. “We are experiencing very dry years, increasing climate variability and rising input costs.” A web-based platform that displays a colour coded map is being developed. The app will be tested with farmers and stakeholders for feedback and fine-tuning. It may take approximately another two years to fully launch. The need for feed Moisture matters Ox +Plow Ag A.U.G. Signals The FeedXchange app was conceived by a Red Deer area dairy farmer. Photo courtesy of Ox + Plow Ag. “ We are experiencing very dry years, increasing climate variability and rising input costs." – Ting Liu