Saskatchewan Ag-tech Firm Behind Innovative Technology That Solves Real-world Problems
Calian Agriculture is the Saskatchewan-based company behind one type of technology used to monitor bins filled with agricultural commodities and another that secures fuel pumps.
The company forms part of a unique ag-tech hub in Saskatchewan that is aimed at making a global impact by increasing value through digital agricultural innovation.
Tanner Folk is Vice President at Calian Agriculture. The idea for Bin-Sense came from personal experience on his Saskatchewan family farm when the family suffered a financial loss due to spoilage. This motivated his brother Kyle to find Saskatchewan engineers who could help them to develop a product using Internet of Things connectivity with bin sensors. This connection provides agricultural producers with a better, more convenient way to monitor stored grain so they can be more connected to operations on their farms, whether they are steps from their bin or thousands of kilometres away.
Calian Agriculture’s Bin-Sense technology reads the temperature and moisture conditions inside an agricultural producer’s grain bins, sending data through nearby cell towers directly to their mobile phone or web dashboard. Versions of the technology can also control equipment, such as fans that aerate the grain inside the bin. This reduces the potential for the contents of the bin to spoil and the grain going to waste.
Fuel Lock is another product developed in Saskatchewan, which was acquired by Calian Agriculture. This technology involves the digital locking of on-site fuel pumps with a keypad PIN. It can track employee fuel usage through a mobile app. This product keeps people informed about their asset. It is useful for agricultural producers, but also for other industries, including construction, logistics and energy.
With these two products, Calian Agriculture is a prime example of how Saskatchewan is positioning itself as a global leader in terms of innovation in the ag-tech sector.
Both Bin-Sense and Fuel Lock technology uses circuit boards manufactured by Calian Agriculture’s parent company, Calian Advanced Technologies, that is based in Saskatoon. Calian Advanced Technologies is a global supplier of highly technical solutions, services and products to the aerospace and defence, satellite, wired and terrestrial wireless, test and measurement, agricultural technology, Global Navigation Satellite System technology, and nuclear industries.
Calian Agriculture relies on a dealer network spread across Canada to sell their products, which are constantly evolving thanks to dealers and customers providing input and ideas.
“We’re actively engaging our dealers and our customers on how the products are performing, capturing feature requests from those that are working with our products every day,” said Riley Burns, Calian Agriculture’s Business Development manager.
While new products have been developed, in part based on this feedback, the company has also been expanding into new markets and growing the number of dealers selling their products.
“We’ve increased our market share pretty heavily in the last two years in Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Alberta,” said Burns. “When I started, we had no dealers and no sales in B.C. and now we’ve got a couple of dealers that are covering the northern area of B.C. and the Lower Mainland as well. We’ve continued to do really well in eastern Canada.”
The company has a Market Development Manager in Missouri to support its efforts in growing the U.S. market share for its products. Currently, the Fuel Lock product line particularly has gained popularity within the U.S. agriculture sector.
They are also looking at other opportunities for growth beyond grain storage. For example, some of their technology is being tested in the storage of almonds and almond hulls in California.
They are eyeing world markets as well. Technology that makes it possible for agricultural producers to more closely monitor the conditions their stored grain contributes to reduced food waste at the production level, which could have an impact on lowering food waste globally.
Their membership with the Saskatchewan Trade and Export Partnership (STEP) is valuable as they look at expansion opportunities. They have participated in trade shows and missions with STEP and have also benefited from assistance provided by the Canadian Trade Commission, who offered funding for some of their trade show activities.
“It’s been nice that we’ve been connected with STEP to help give us some of that training on how we can continue to expand internationally and making sure that we’re doing all those things in the right way,” said Burns.
Calian Agriculture’s products are helping not only Saskatchewan farmers, but farmers across North America, providing food security for a growing world. That is something Calian, and Saskatchewan, can be truly proud of.
To learn more, visit investSK.ca
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