EMILI to trial smart spore detection, early disease warning on Manitoba potato farm (Manitoba Cooperator)

A recent Manitoba Cooperator article highlights one of the projects taking place on EMILI’s Innovation Farms powered by AgExpert.
Potato diseases can move quickly when field conditions line up to favour infection, so when ag tech accelerator EMILI approached Sheldon Wiebe about what technology might help at his MacGregor, Man., potato farm, he didn’t hesitate.

“Early disease detection was at the top of our list,” said Wiebe, president and co-owner of J.P. Wiebe Ltd.

His suggestion led EMILI’s Innovation Farms team to BioScout, an Australian-developed system that monitors airborne spores and uses artificial intelligence to help identify disease risk before symptoms are visible in the field.

Leanne Koroscil, EMILI’s Innovation Farms manager, described the system as “like a microscope in a field.”