USask Engineering launches research partnership with ag start-up
When your college is located in Canada’s agricultural heartland – that shapes its research priorities.
“It’s our responsibility to be the best at engineering for agriculture,” says Terry Fonstad, associate dean research and partnerships at the University of Saskatchewan (USask) College of Engineering.
The college recently launched a partnership with Saskatchewan-based company VeriGrain to cooperate on research as the company develops technology to accurately sample grain in real time and digitize the data.
VeriGrain CEO Ken Jackson recently provided an overview of the current technology to several USask Engineering faculty researchers.
“We are starting the conversation,” says Fonstad. “Engineering for agriculture is a key area of expertise in our college; we want to explore if there are ways for our researchers to move this product forward.”
VeriGrain featured its technology recently at the Western Canadian Crop Production Show in Saskatoon, where Fonstad presented about the college’s connection with the company. The spin-off research opportunities created by these disruptive technologies are important to the college and the ag industry, he said.
The technology could be a game-changer, said Jackson. “If producers can accurately say what they have in the bin, it can change the way grain is priced and marketed.”