Ten years of Canadian agricultural innovation through EMILI

From left, EMILI Managing Director Jacqueline Keena and Innovation Farms Manager Leanne Koroscil in a canola field at EMILI’s Innovation Farms.

By Tamara Botting

This year marks the tenth anniversary of EMILI (Enterprise Machine Intelligence and Learning Initiative), the culmination of a group of community leaders working towards a common goal: to grow Canada’s economy, with a specific focus on advancing agtech in the Prairies.

Jacqueline Keena, Managing Director, explained that EMILI “is an industry-led non-profit committed to driving agriculture innovation, partnership, and engagement. We provide innovators access to leading-edge equipment, technology, and production practices to increase productivity, sustainability, and profitability across the agriculture and agri-food sector.”

At the heart of it all are the partnerships that EMILI cultivates between producers, industry leaders, investors and innovators. These stakeholders work together “to grow a sustainable, economically resilient digital agriculture industry.”

This work is done in a number of ways.

“We know that Canadian agriculture can lead the world through transformative innovation. This vision fuels our work. EMILI supports projects and people working to develop and increase the adoption of innovative technologies, with projects and partnerships that span the country,” Keena said.

One example of this is the annual Agriculture Enlightened conference, which brings together key stakeholders, including agri-food and technology experts, industry leaders, producers, decision-makers, researchers and students from across the prairies.

“Since 2020, we have brought together approximately 1,450 attendees to hear from over 144 agri-food and agtech experts in more than 47 sessions including keynotes, panel discussions, and fireside chats,” said Keena.

Information about the conference and videos of past sessions are available on EMILI’s website. The next Agriculture Enlightened is scheduled for November 5.

Another example is EMILI’s Innovation Farms powered by AgExpert. The first one, located on Rutherford Farms, a 5,500-acre seed farm in Grosse Isle, Manitoba, was launched in 2022.

It’s been such a successful model that the second site – on J.P. Wiebe Ltd. in MacGregor, Manitoba, which is 10,000 acres, with approximately 3,000 dedicated to potatoes – was opened in July 2025.

“This space provides innovators across industry and academia with access to leading-edge equipment, technology, and production practices to increase productivity, sustainability, and profitability across the agriculture and agri-food sector,” Keena said. “We collaborate with a number of agtech innovators on these sites to test, validate, and demonstrate technology.”

The current list of collaborators is available on the EMILI website at https://emilicanada.com/innovation-farms/activities/

“As an industry-led non-profit we are in a unique position to provide innovators with access to leading-edge equipment, technology, and production practices along with unbiased feedback on how their innovation works on a full-scale farm,” Keena said.

Keena explained that EMILI’s work is guided by three strategic objectives: innovation, partnership and engagement.

• Innovation: We provide innovators with access to leading-edge equipment, technology, and production practices to advance the development and adoption of digital agriculture in Canada at EMILI’s Innovation Farms.

• Partnership: We drive innovation through cross-industry collaboration to empower people with digital skills, support startups to grow in the prairies, and accelerate Canada’s growth as a leader in digital agriculture through initiatives like the Manitoba Digital Agriculture Table.

• Engagement: We host events such as field tours and an annual conference to bring together agri-food and technology experts, industry leaders, producers, decision-makers, researchers and students to increase understanding and adoption of digital tools. Since 2020, we have fostered connections and knowledge sharing at our annual Agriculture Enlightened Conference.

To work out these objectives, there has to be financial support. The contributors include (but are not limited to) Farm Credit Canada, FCC AgExpert, BASF, Enns Brothers, Family of Jake Enns Ag Innovation Legacy Fund, Elmer’s Manufacturing, John Deere, MacDon, MLT Aikins, OCP North America, Simplot, Think Shift, J.P. Wiebe Ltd., Rutherford Farms, the Government of Canada, and the Province of Manitoba.

Keena noted that all of the support “represents a big investment in the future of digital agriculture in Canada.”

Every year, EMILI collaborates with over 30 agtech innovators – both startups and established companies – to test and validate tools to make Canada’s agricultural industry stronger, like new technologies and production practices. The work is done on the Innovation Farms, and “aims to provide farmers with solutions that meet the unique needs of their farm operation, including different crops, weather patterns, and soil types.”

The investment has already been paying off, and while EMILI’s focus is on the Prairies, the impact has been global.

For example, in 2023, EMILI began working with Geco Strategic Weed Management (Geco); it was tested on three farms in Western Canada. Just three years later, it’s commercially available in North America and is being used on over 160 farms in seven countries.

Last July, Bushel Plus (soon to be BranValt) installed a prototype of a split frame concave on a John Deere X9 combine at an Innovation Farm. Now, it’s commercially available for this year’s growing season.

More is expected on the horizon.

For instance, last year, Redekop began a three-year project to test and validate its Seed Control Unit (SCU). This testing will provide Canadian farmers with third-party research as to the benefits and efficacy of this technology.

There are around 30 other technologies being tested, validated and demonstrated on the Innovation Farms during the 2026 season.

“This testing allows EMILI to evaluate the return on investment of agriculture technology in a real-world commercial farm setting. Results from the season will be published as project summaries once all of the data is collected,” Keena said. See EMILI’s website for information on featured projects.

EMILI hosts events throughout the season to provide interested parties the opportunity to learn more about new agricultural technologies, and to increase their understanding and adoption of digital tools.

There are also field tours and demonstrations at the Innovation Farms in Manitoba, which are opened to interested farmers, businesses and other stakeholders.

“This is a great way to learn first-hand about EMILI’s work and connect with our staff and others in the industry,” Keena said.

Besides visiting EMILI’s website, interested parties can keep up to date with highlights of the work being done by subscribing for the newsletter.

Also, “If an emerging or established company is interested in testing or demonstrating technology with us at Innovation Farms, there are details on collaboration eligibility on our Innovation Farms webpage,” Keena said.

When it comes to Canada’s role in the agricultural industry on the world stage, organizations like EMILI are working to make the nation a headliner. 