Grainswest - Tech 2026

Tech 2026 Grains West 30 FEATURE L aunched in 2001 by three ambitious New Zealand scientists, AbacusBio is an agricultural science and tech consultancy whose sole purpose is to help ag businesses and farmer organizations maximize their research investments. The company creates custom strategies, systems and platforms built on genomic and genetic data to optimize crop and livestock breeding, business operations and value chain performance. It helps clients make sense of massive, complex data sets across multiple interconnected facets of agricultural business and production. “There is often a gap between the academic and the business sides of agriculture,” said John Crowley, managing director of AbacusBio Canada. “We can walk between the two. “We attempt to let the whole value chain influence how breeding and genetics is done. This requires collecting data involved in the creation of new germplasm plus a whole bunch of downstream data from vendor, farmer, processor and consumer. We marry that data, so germplasm is created for acceptance by the end market or consumer. There’s science, economics and social science aspects.” The company expanded internationally in 2017 with the launch of its EU office in Edinburgh, Scotland, followed by its Edmonton office in 2023 and one on Australia’s Sunshine Coast in 2025. Prior to these expansions, its focus was livestock and aquaculture, but its expertise has greatly expanded. It has worked with most of the world’s main cattle breeds and row crops, wheat and barley included. It also works within the fruit, vegetables and forestry industries. AT THE CUTTING EDGE Because it works with emerging technologies, AbacusBio attracts employees who possess cutting-edge technical skills and crave innovation. “We’re scientists that ran away to the circus,” said Crowley with a laugh. These high-flying performers derive job satisfaction in novel solutions to agricultural data puzzles. Crowley emphasized the work is collaborative and makes use of the client’s own expertise and knowledge. “It’s often filling the skills gap or the capability gaps of a business, institute or organization,” added AbacusBio consultant Martin Howes. A calf-rearing specialist, he has worked in ag business development in Africa, Europe and the Middle East. The company employs geneticists, bio-informaticians, economic strategists and data scientists who convert science into action. Projects may involve organizations that work with computer vision, genotyping, genomic analysis or data collection software. “Our own cutting-edge contribution is putting all those jigsaw pieces together,” said Crowley. In 2025, Alberta Pulse hired AbacusBio to analyze its research investments in breeding, particularly in peas. The task was to determine which traits provide the best value to the farmer and identify the best ROI in future investments. This included a deep dive into 30-plus years of Commission investments and the output of the public breeding system with emphasis on disease resistance, protein and yield. “Part of our research strategy is due diligence in investing in breeding programs on behalf of farmers,” said Jenn Walker, Alberta Pulse’s research and extension manager. “AbacusBio has breadth and depth of experience in building models and doing economic analyses of traits. That gives us confidence in the paths forward they’ve identified.” SCIENCE SUPPORTS ECONOMICS Genetic data analysis bolsters decision-making across the ag value chain BY IAN DOIG • PHOTO COURTESY OF ABACUSBIO “ Often, we find that compromise to ensure the consumer gets what they want and the farmer remains profitable .” – Martin Howes