By Alice McFarlane

Innovation awards presented at Ag in Motion

Jul 15, 2025 | 2:26 PM

Ag in Motion exhibitors gathered in Saskatoon, Sask. last night for the presentation of the Ag Innovation Awards for Western Canada’s largest outdoor farm show.

There were three finalists in each of the five categories of Agronomics, AgTech, Business Solutions, Environmental Sustainability, and Equipment. A panel of eight judges selected the winner in each category.

The Agronomics Award went to ATP Nutrition. Its product, Synergro G3, is a shelf-stable, granular biostimulant powered by microbial metabolites.

The Innovation Award for Ag Tech went to Phiber Manufacturing in Crystal City, Man. for its DASH drone carrier. Phyber Director of Sales, Steve Froese said it allows farmers and agri-business to become more efficient using drones for spraying and it can handle four drones at a time.

“We have the capability of carrying about 2,300 gallons of water plus several totes of chemical, and we have hot tanks that will allow you to put chemical into the hot tank with water, premix it and when your drones come in, they land on top of an open platform that occurs simply by pressing buttons,” he said. “We have a tablet that operates the complete mechanism, the drone comes in, a battery can be changed out, the drone can be filled with product and the batteries replaced and it’s sent out.”

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The Innovation Award for business solutions was given to AGI3 Risk Services. It has modeling to price crop yield risk in real time. Another product called ForwardProtect insures growers against the risk of forward contracting canola and spring wheat, protecting them if yields fall short and prices rise.

The Innovation Award for Environmental Sustainability went to Green Lightning and Nytro. It uses electricity to pull nitrogen out of the air and fixes it to the water.

Chris Nykolaishen is with Nytro Ag Corp based in Kamsack, Sask.

“The Green Lightning, which Nytro is the Canadian distributor of, has created a machine that takes atmospheric nitrogen and converts it into a plant and soluble form using plasma electricity,” he said.

There’s about 11 patents that are filed with this technology. Nykolaishen said the technology has come a long way in the last year.

“Last year, we’re making a product that had success but had varying degrees of success this year with the new developments and the redesign of the heads within the machine. We are seeing a much greater percentage of success with the farmers who are using it,” he added.

The Equipment Innovation Award went to Thunderstruck Ag Equipment for the Razer’s Edge concave. It reduces crop damage and eliminates the need for cover plates on the combine.

Producers can visit all five Innovation Award winners on site and then vote for the Farmer Choice Award, which will be announced next week.

Ag in Motion continues until Thursday. Roughly 30,000 people are expected to attend the show.

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alice.mcfarlane@pattisonmedia.com