Innovation Challenge Winners Bring Local Tech To British Columbia Farms

 

Four B.C. companies have each won $20,000 for developing B.C. technology to help solve a problem identified as part of the BC Ministry of Agriculture and the BC Innovation Council’s Innovation Challenge.

 

The winning companies are using local technology to deter birds from B.C. berry farms, provide up-to-the-minute health checks on crops, turn B.C. wood waste into fully compostable yarn for farm uses, and improve nutrient recovery from farm waste.

 

The winners were selected by a panel of experts, with representatives of the BC Innovation Council, the BC Agriculture Council, Genome BC, the National Research Council, the Investment Agriculture Foundation, SRC Tec, Bioenterprise BC and the federal and provincial governments.

 

The Agritech Innovation Challenge is a partnership between the BC Ministry of Agriculture and the BC Innovation Council with $80,000 in funding provided through Growing Forward 2, a federal-provincial-territorial initiative that provides a $3-billion investment over five years in innovation, competitiveness and market development. The challenge was launched in November 2016 and brought together innovators with industry to develop a product or process to enhance productivity, sustainability and resiliency of B.C.’s agrifood sector.

 

Video: Seaweed-Based Solutions: Building Natural Performance in Modern Swine Production

In today’s pork industry, producers are under increasing pressure to do more with fewer inputs—while maintaining performance, improving animal health, and meeting sustainability expectations.

we sit down with Sylvain David and Scott Preston from Olmix to explore how seaweed-based solutions are emerging as a foundational tool in modern swine nutrition.

Rather than acting as simple alternatives, these solutions are designed to support gut health, immune resilience, and overall system consistency—especially during key stress periods like weaning, feed transitions, and disease challenges.

The conversation dives into:

• What seaweed-based solutions actually are and how they work

• Why consistency and standardization matter in “natural” products

• How gut health connects to immune function and performance

• Where producers are seeing real-world impact today

• The role of natural solutions in the future of sustainable pork production