The Transformative Seven: Technologies that can drive Canada's next green revolution

Mark Stebnicki

“Maximizing the potential of these innovations means building the right platforms for collaboration among not just farmers and entrepreneurs, but communities, investors, corporations, social enterprises, and governments. It’ll mean proving to farmers of all types that sizeable upfront investments in more proven ag-techs are worth it while de-risking their leaps of faith into emerging technologies. We need to also be careful that these tools, many of which are capital intensive, do not hurt smaller and medium-sized enterprises and producers and that they are truly deployed to help Canada achieve both our emission targets and drive a green economic transition,” said the report.

“Doing this will mean accelerating investment in research and development—particularly among private actors—and directing more of it toward the technologies that can do the most to cut emissions now. As it stands, most ag-tech investments in Canada are focused on productivity enhancing digitization and automation, which help increase yields and improve farm operations. We need more investment in innovation to advance sustainable and regenerative farming.”

Over the last decade, the public sector accounted for as much as 90% of agricultural R&D, compared to about 30% in the United States, said RBC.

“Meantime, Canadian agricultural startups and private companies have lagged international peers in drawing private investment. Of roughly US$36 billion in global venture capital and private equity investments in ag-tech since 2017, Canada received just 3%, or US$1 billion. The U.S. captured US$20 billion or 55%,” it said.

“Canadian agriculture businesses have grown their R&D budgets significantly—at least doubling them from 2015 levels in recent years. But they still fall far short of Canadian public R&D funding, which steadily declined as a percent of GDP since the 1980s. As governments in peer countries like the U.S. and Europe accelerate public spending on sustainable agriculture (for example via the Inflation Reduction Act, and the European Green Deal), Canada risks falling even further behind. It is imperative for Canada to keep pace on incentives to avoid placing our producers and companies at a disadvantage or causing a brain drain to other nations. To compete, we’ll need governments to shift more support to on-farm implementation and uptake of ag-tech regenerative agriculture practices.

“And we’ll need businesses to drive more investment—particularly in the technologies that hold the most promise to move the needle on climate change.”

(Mario Toneguzzi is a veteran of the media industry for more than 40 years and named in 2021 a Top Ten Business Journalist in the world and only Canadian)