Canadian Agri-Food Automation and Intelligence Network (CAAIN) launches its fifth funding call to expand smart farms with a $5M goal. The funding focuses on encouraging the expansion of a national network of smart farms.

The funding calls to advance smart farms come with three purposes. 

“First it validates the use of advanced agriculture technology. Second, it demonstrates the functionality of that equipment to farmers, who can then evaluate the potential return on investment for themselves in a real-world farm setting. Third, it is connected to 3 post-secondary institutions,” says CAAIN CEO Kerry Wright. 

It will also focus on the “3 pillars” of advanced technology involved within the agriculture-food industry.  The first two — robotics and automation, and data-driven decision-making — can be validated and demonstrated on smart farms, which compromise the third pillar. CAAIN has structured the program to encourage more entrepreneurs to take up this challenge.

“Smart farms projects are complex, and it occurred to us that their complexity, coupled with our tight submission timelines and partnership requirements, might challenge the small and medium businesses we are mandated to encourage,'' says Wright. “We’re inviting applicants to submit proposals according to their schedules, rather than ours.”

CAAIN will accept submissions until the organization has committed the entire $5 million set aside for funding. More information is available here.

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