The Agtech revolution next door: How Alberta’s farm innovation could shape B.C. agriculture

Alberta's agri-tech sector offers a glimpse of technologies addressing modern farming challenges—from making better decisions with data to capturing generational farming wisdom in software to seeing crop conditions before they're visible to the naked eye.

Alberta has positioned itself as a Western Canadian hub for agricultural technology development. The province combines 41,505 farms covering nearly 49 million hectares of farmland with nearly 30 research and innovation facilities, creating an environment where traditional farming expertise meets cutting-edge technology. With a combined federal-provincial business tax rate of 23%—lower than 44 U.S. states—and specific support programmes for agri-tech companies, such as Agriculture Tax incentives of up to 12%, Alberta has attracted both homegrown startups and international investment.

When data meets dirt

Decisive Farming, acquired by Telus in 2019, started with a problem every farmer knows: having information is one thing, but knowing what to do with it is another. Based in Irricana, the company built solutions that turn farm data into actionable decisions—from soil health to financial planning to day-to-day operations.

The company's approach centres on collaboration. Through precision agronomy services, Decisive Farming works with farmers to use precise nutrient information for optimal crop performance. Their variable-rate fertilizer and seeding applications mean inputs go exactly where they're needed, not uniformly across entire fields. The company also provides grain marketing plans tailored to individual cash flow needs and risk tolerance, and farm management apps that let producers track fields and activities from anywhere.

The company's focus extends beyond productivity to sustainability. Decisive Farming supports 4R Nutrient Stewardship—applying the right nutrient source at the right rate, in the right place, at the right time. This approach addresses both environmental concerns and the bottom line, with the company reporting typical increases in yields and profits of 10% while improving soil nutrient management and reducing CO2 emissions.

When Canadian telecom giant Telus acquired Decisive Farming in 2019, it validated what was happening in Alberta's agri-tech sector. The province wasn't just home to traditional farming—it was becoming a hub where agricultural expertise met technological innovation.

Decisive Farming's trajectory illustrates Alberta's broader advantage in agri-tech: the province produces 27.9% of Canada's canola and pulses, creating both the market for agricultural innovation and the testing ground for new technologies. Alberta's $17.29 billion in agri-food exports in 2023 demonstrates the scale of agricultural activity that makes the province attractive for companies developing farm technology.

Teaching machines to think like farmers

In Calgary, Verge is tackling a different challenge in agricultural technology. The hardware for autonomous farming largely exists in GPS, autosteer, and connectivity. What's missing, the company recognized, is the intelligence layer: the decision system that connects planning to action.

Verge is building technology to capture what they call "grower intelligence,” which is the accumulated wisdom behind farming decisions. Why does a grower enter a field from one corner rather than another? Why plant at a particular angle? These decisions reflect generations of knowledge about field conditions, equipment constraints, and local realities.

The company's Launch Pad product helps farmers build interactive field maps and equipment paths that reflect this operational intent. Route plans minimize waste. Fleet movements cut idle time. Execution happens according to plan before the engine even starts.

For farmers looking to optimize operations and reduce inefficiencies, technology that captures and scales their expertise becomes an increasingly valuable tool.

Seeing the invisible

From Edmonton, Wyvern is taking agricultural technology in a literally elevated direction. The space data company operates the Dragonette constellation, which delivers the highest -resolution commercial hyperspectral data from space.

While standard satellite imagery shows what fields look like, hyperspectral imaging reveals their chemical and material signatures. This technology can detect crop stress, nutrient deficiencies, or disease before they're visible to the human eye. For farmers, that means the ability to respond to problems earlier, or prevent them entirely.

Wyvern's applications extend beyond agriculture to defence, wildfire prevention, environmental monitoring, and resource management. But for farming, the technology represents a fundamental shift: instead of reacting to what's already visible in the field, farmers can make decisions based on conditions they couldn't previously detect.

The company's tagline captures their mission: "Better Earth, From Space." In agriculture, that means giving farmers tools to act faster, smarter, and more sustainably.

Building the ecosystem

These companies don't operate in isolation. Alberta has deliberately built infrastructure to support agricultural innovation, particularly through its post-secondary institutions.

Olds College operates a 3,600-acre Smart Farm, part of the Pan-Canadian Smart Farm Network that helps accelerate the development and adoption of agriculture technologies across Canada. The college also runs the Olds College Centre of Innovation and the Technology Access Centre for Livestock Production, providing specialized support for companies developing new agricultural technologies.

At the University of Alberta, facilities including the Institute for Cellular Agriculture, the Livestock Gentec Centre of Excellence, and Agri-Food Discovery Place push boundaries in everything from alternative proteins to precision livestock management. The university also operates Dairy, Swine, and Poultry Research and Technology Centres.

Lakeland College provides hands-on agricultural technology education with a 3,700-acre Student-Managed Farm featuring a Dairy Learning Centre with robotic milking and feeding systems. Students can earn a Bachelor of Agriculture Technology degree while working with the latest farming innovations.

Lethbridge Polytechnic houses the Centre for Applied Research, Innovation and Entrepreneurship, along with the Mueller Irrigation Research Group and its 385-acre irrigated research farm. The college's Integrated Agriculture Technology Centre includes 20,000 square feet of controlled-environment agriculture facilities.

Northwestern Polytechnic operates the National Bee Diagnostic Centre and an Agriculture and Biosciences Applied Research Centre, adding to the province's specialized agricultural research capacity.

This educational infrastructure supports a growing sector. Alberta's agri-food sector saw $3.1 billion in capital investment expenditures in 2023, with the province's food and beverage manufacturing sales reaching $26 billion—nearly 24% of all manufacturing sales in the province. For agri-tech companies, this represents both immediate market opportunity and long-term growth potential.

The B.C. connection

The Pacific Agriculture Show ran January 22-24 at Abbotsford's Tradex Centre, where it featured post-secondary institutions including the University of the Fraser Valley, Kwantlen Polytechnic University, UBC, and Simon Fraser University showcasing agri-tech programs. The show's focus on agriculture as a modern, technology-driven field reflects the same transformation happening in Alberta.

For B.C. farmers, the innovations emerging from Alberta represent more than interesting case studies from the neighbouring province. These are technologies being developed and tested in Western Canadian conditions, designed to address challenges that exist across the region.

Efficiency, resource management, sustainability requirements and the need to do more with less are pressures affecting farmers from the Fraser Valley to the Peace Country.

The solutions being developed in Irricana, Calgary, and Edmonton—and refined on farms across Alberta—offer glimpses of how farming might evolve. Not by replacing farmer knowledge, but by extending it through technology that captures expertise, reveals the invisible, and turns data into decisions.

The agricultural technology revolution isn't happening in Silicon Valley. It's happening next door, on working farms and in small Alberta towns, where companies are solving practical problems with tangible solutions.

This article is sponsored by Invest Alberta. For more information about agricultural innovation opportunities in Alberta, visit investalberta.ca.