6 Cover story Awarding innovation CANADA’S OUTDOOR FARM SHOW INNOVATION PROGRAM AWARDS Mary Feldskov INNOVATION HAS DRIVEN ADVANCES IN AGRICULTURAL TECHNOLOGY FOR CENTURIES – at the turn of the 20th century, a Canadian farmer could feed 10 people; today, that number tops 120. The constant turning of the wheels of change over the past century and a quarter has moved agriculture from an industry highly dependent on human – and animal – power to one that harnesses the power of mechanization, electronics, data, and artificial intelligence, allowing farmers to improve yields, reduce inputs, and maximize labour-saving efficiencies to meet the challenge of feeding the world’s projected 8.7 billion people in 2050. Highlighting the technologies that will advance the industry and help farmers get a competitive edge is the goal of Canada’s Outdoor Farm Show (COFS), an annual event that, in 2024, brought more than 37,000 people to its Woodstock, Ontario site to see what is new and innovative in the agriculture industry – and what can help make their farms more streamlined, efficient, and profitable. The show, says Rob O’Connor, business development lead and show director, is where “… farmers come every year to meet friends and neighbours, look at hundreds of products in one place, and see how farm and livestock equipment works in real situations.” THE NEXT ‘BIG THING’ Canada’s Outdoor Farm Show, supported by the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Agribusiness, hosts an annual Innovations Program to feature the latest ideas and products in farming and showcase innovative solutions for Canadian farmers. The Innovations Program recognizes companies and start-ups for creative solutions in five categories: agronomics, business solutions, environmental sustainability, equipment, and livestock. Jeremy Matuszewksi, president of Thunderstruck Ag Equipment in Manitoba, winner in the 2024 agronomics category, says innovation is at the heart of everything they do in his company. Matuszewksi – whose background is in the oil and gas industry – says that agriculture wasn’t even really on his radar when he started out as an entrepreneur. But he quickly saw how much innovation was coming out of the industry – often initiated by farmers themselves – and saw how he could help bring those innovations to market. “My first product was in oil and gas, and it was invented by a farmer,” he says. “It turns out that farmers are really innovative and brilliant. Farmer ingenuity is something that a lot of people don’t even understand how powerful it is.” The Thunderstruck product line includes a wide variety of products, including closing wheels, row cleaners, skid steer and loader attachments, and fertilizer and grain handling solutions. The company’s Innovations Program award-winning product is its TNT Cover Plates. Working with an Australian Farmer, Robert Ruwoldt, Thunderstruck aimed to fine-tune the efficiency of concaves used in combines. Combine concaves work together with the rotor to thresh and separate the crops automatically. The challenge, says Matuszewksi, is that “as that rotor spins right, it’ll typically overload one side of the combine separating area or the other because some rotors spin one way, some rotors spin the other way, but they all have the problem of overloading one side or the other.”
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