The Innovations Program Awards recognized the best and brightest in agricultural equipment and innovation ahead of Canada’s Outdoor Farm Show 2025.
The ceremony, held Monday night at the show site outside Woodstock, honoured winners across five categories: agronomics, business solutions, environmental sustainability, equipment and livestock.
In the Agronomics category, Oxford MP Arpan Khanna presented the award to Spornado for the Spornado Sampler, an early alert system for crop disease which allows producers to apply their fungicides more effectively. The air sampler allows customers to detect disease in the air before it’s in the field.
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Oxford MPP Ernie Hardeman awarded Lactanet Canada with the Business Solutions award for its Transition Management Index (TMI), marketed as the first tool in Ontario to provide a comprehensive assessment of the transition period in dairy cows, leading to improved milk production and profitability.
LaSalle Agri Inc’s AgroBoost fertilizer was the winner in the Environmental Sustainability category. It’s all-in-one fertilizer contains naturally-occurring ingredients harder to find in other fertilizer formats. The award was presented by Woodstock mayor Jerry Acchione.
In the crowded equipment category, the winner was Haggerty AgRobotics with the Monarch Electric Tractor, a fully-functional 70 hp machine which can operate over 10 hours per day on one charge. The electric capacity is one of the largest currently available for its size.
Finally, BioFerScience won its second straight Livestock Innovation award, this time for the ProFlora Post-Calving Calcium Bolus, “the first and only calcium bolus designed and manufactured in Ontario specifically to support calcium levels in fresh cows after calving.” Mayor of East Zorra-Tavistock Phil Schaefer presented BioFerScience with the award.
All award winners will be exhibiting at Canada’s Outdoor Farm Show.
Prior to the announcement of the Innovation Awards, Steve White of AgScape presented an award for Teaching Excellence in Agriculture and Food to Stratford elementary school teacher Hannah Anderson for integrating agriculture and food topics into her teaching, including workshops, virtual field trips and hands-on activities.
