Park Lake Dairy Farm. (Lethbridge News Now)

By David Opinko

Farming

Ottawa invests $49.5-million into the “future of farming”

Jul 22, 2019 | 1:33 PM

LETHBRIDGE, AB – The federal government hopes to boost Canada’s agriculture sector and make it more globally-competitive.

Natural Resources Minister Navdeep Bains announced Monday the investment of up to $49.5-million into the Canadian Agri-Food Automation and Intelligence Network (CAAIN).

“The future of farming will require farmers to adopt new technologies and processes in order to stay competitive. By investing in Canadian agricultural innovation, our government is acting to maintain our global leadership in agriculture, while also helping to create and maintain highly skilled jobs across the country,” says Bains.

CAAIN is spearheaded by Alberta Innovates, Lakeland College’s Lloydminster campus, and the Vineland Research & Innovation Centre out of Ontario.

The money will go towards the development of things like artificial intelligence, robotics, and precision agriculture.

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The hope is that this will help to reduce the reliance on temporary labour, increase global competitiveness, and improve profitability for Canadian farmers.

Alberta Innovates CEO Laura Kilcrease says Canada is stepping up to meet the growing demand to help feed a hungry planet.

“CAAIN will build on innovation within the agricultural sector by bringing technology to market, applying data and new problem-solving technologies like artificial intelligence, and identifying opportunities for collaboration across the value chain between sectors.”

A press release from the federal government claims that this investment will create highly-skilled jobs and new businesses, improved food safety and livestock traceability, and smarter agriculture that reduces greenhouse gas emissions.