Canada’s Outdoor Farm Show kicked off in Woodstock Monday night as its Innovation Awards recognized the best in Canadian agricultural tech and innovation.
This year’s ceremony included nine awards across the gold and silver categories. Three innovations took gold, while six received silver.
Paul Vickers, parliamentary assistant to the minister of agriculture, food and agribusiness and MPP for Bruce-Grey-Owen Sound, opened the ceremony with reflections on the importance of agricultural innovaiton in Canada.
“The future looks bright,” Vickers said. “The people in this sector continually find better ways to move forward. Tonight we recognize some of those incredible people.
“Being an innovator takes more than having a good idea or a great idea.” he continued. “It takes determination, investment, and a willingness to take a risk and see if the idea can actually work. A lot like what farmers do every day.”
Vickers added continued innovation in farming will be crucial as Canada continues to face down economic uncertainty.
Gold
CATTLEytics inc. won gold for its Field Guide Farm Knowledge and Workforce Learning Platform, which offers a new way for farmers to connect and present data. With the Field Guide, producers can upload materials and use artificial intelligence to create educational materials like quizzes and audio tracks in multiple language.
CATTLEytics also took a silver award for the Youngstock Intelligence system, which takes scattered youngstock information and aggregates it into one shared picture for management
Amazone took top honors for its Amazone ZA-TS 5001 (shown up top), which aims to improve and streamline fertilizer spreading. The machine monitors spread pattern in real time with on-board sensors and makes automatic adjustments to ensure the most even application possible.
The third gold medallist was Upside Robotics for the Maize Runner – not a system to trap teenagers in a deadly labyrinth, but a nutrient-application robot, which runs between 30-inch corn rows to apply a precise amount of fertilizer. The system aims to reduce input costs while boosting yields through precision nutrient application and algorithms tailored to every user.
Silver
In the silver awards, Forward Robotics inc. was recognized for the U9HL-B Spray UAV. This sprayer, made in Cambridge, Ont. Lifts like a helicopter and flies at an extended range, enabling it to spray evenly from one end of a pass to another. It boasts a lower barrier to operation than alternatives.
Hamilton’s StrongBó AgriTech won for the Auto Weigher system, which aims to eliminate the hassle of yard mustering. The portable automated system lessens stress for cattle as they prepare for market and can easily capture real-time data on herds.
A silver medal went to Syngenta for the Durastak Trait Technology, a triple-Bt protein stack meant to fight corn rootworm through three modes of action.
CredoSense Inc. took silver for its Outdoor Crop Health Diagnostics System. This system combines satellite and radar-based monitoring with field intelligence using a unique leaf testing system to indicate when a crop may be under stress to help producers and agronomists to diagnose issues within the affected grid.
Lactanet won for its FeedComp management software, a smartphone app-based feed management system meant to help dairy farmers with efficiency and management of feed systems. FeedComp is designed to be accessible to dairy farms of all sizes
Follow more of our coverage of Canada’s Outdoor Farm Show 2026.
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