Three local companies were honoured as Innovation Showcase winners at the recent Manitoba Ag Days in Brandon.
The event featured 28 new products or services in seven categories, and the south-central region was well represented.
In the agricultural equipment category, the CornerStone planter ready row unit created by North Valley Precision Planting located in the Homewood area earned top honours.
Representative Andrew Kippen said it came from a fairly basic idea to help producers.
“We wanted to showcase what North Valley can do with old equipment, so we rescued an old planter … stripped it down, painted it and made a bunch of different adaptors and mods to fit with all the new tech,” he said.
They then took the idea further and created a blueprint for installing it onto equipment.
“We mentioned it to a couple of customers who are actually on the Ag Days board, and they said that’s a real innovation there and you should showcase it,” said Kippen.
“The whole idea is if you’re happy with what you have today, let’s retrofit and customize and make it fit,” he added.
He said there has been a lot of good positive response so far.
“It might not be a build we would do for everyone, but it kind of shows that you can take something that’s 50 years old and make it into something that’s new,” said Kippen. “New equipment is not cheap … so this is an option for guys who kind of want the new tech but don’t want to spend that kind of money.”
In the farm safety category, the fence line mower created by R-Tech Industries, also in the Homewood area, received accolades.
Representative Josh Hennan said their innovation also came from a fairly basic need, especially for cattle producers.
“If you have the grass get long and start touching the line, it will short it out, and it will lose its voltage,” he explained. “Right now, people are just using weed whackers; that’s the main way to do it … but to go out and weed whack miles of fence line is a little crazy.”
They created something that will do the job quicker and more efficiently for producers.
“It’s a simple idea for sure, and they do exist in Europe, but it just seemed you couldn’t really find them out here in North America.”
He saw a need for this relatively straightforward innovation here in southern Manitoba especially, and he appreciates receiving the recognition.
“It’s good. It gets our name out there … it’s especially about safety,” he said.
Hennan said they have been receiving good initial response to their product.
“Here’s some people who came to Ag Days just to look at it, so there is a need for it,” he said, noting they only did testing over last summer and started taking orders at Ag Days.
Another honour in the agronomics category went to the Feed Eazy Pro 3020 tub grinder produced by Kanpar / Allagparts located in the RM of Stanley.
The tub grinder arose through a partnership with a company based overseas that had been distributing a model of a tub grinder.
“They decided they needed to beef their machines up, so they designed their own unit and strengthened the areas where they had issues, and we were able to import these machines into Canada now at over $20,000 savings over the competition,” explained sales rep Todd Botterill.
“It’s a stronger machine,” he said, noting its advantages include not only its ruggedness but its price as well.
“Cattle producers looking to increase the quality of their feed and using vertical mixers might need stronger equipment and need up to an hour to an hour and a half to chew up a bale,” he explained.
“So it’s a lot of wasted time and horsepower … with a tub grinder like ours, we can use a 170 to 200 horsepower, and it takes five minutes to chew up that bale.
“We’re in a more competitive price point. It makes it more feasible for smaller operators to use this machine and improve their feed quality and not spend as much to do it.”
Botterill noted the Manitoba Ag Days is the perfect forum for companies like them to showcase what they can offer to producers.
“It’s a great program that they have, and the publicity that we get from it helps a lot.”
First-place winners in the showcase received $500 and a $1,000 advertising credit, while the runner-ups received $250 and a $500 advertising credit.
A spokesperson for Ag Days said it is always rewarding to see the level of innovation that Manitoba companies put in to making things easier and better for producers in the province.
“Farmers really want to see what is new and how it might work for them. They like the opportunity to see products first hand and ask specific questions,” said Dwayne Leslie, Manitoba Ag Days innovation showcase committee chair.
