You can take the man off the farm, but you can’t take the farm out of the man. At least, this was the case for Ellery Burton (RMC, P.Eng), the founder and managing director of Alterra Innovation. Burton grew up on a mixed farm in Central Manitoba before going to the Royal Military College to study mechanical engineering, and joining the Canadian Armed Forces as an engineering officer and pilot. As he progressed in his career, he realized that his future ambitions to create digital solutions could play a role in his agricultural past. This set him on the path to launch Alterra Innovation.
Alterra Innovation’s product, GrainTracker, is an inventory management system that seamlessly integrates crop inventory, digital traceability, and harvest records to create a digital twin of grain crops. This digital twin technology is created with almost zero manual data entry and allows farmers to better track their crop throughout its lifecycle, identify potential risks, and make informed decisions for crop management.
What was your first job in the agriculture or agri-food sector?
My journey into agriculture began with caring for animals on our farm and helping my father with fieldwork. Professionally, I started as the Engineering Manager at WS Steel, where I led the development of the Smart Seeder Max precision seeder.
What was your dream job when you were a kid?
I dreamt of being both a fighter pilot and an engineer. However, growing up on our family farm, I developed a profound appreciation for agriculture and engineering, which ultimately shaped my career path.
What first piqued your interest in agriculture and agri-food?
I fell in love with farming as a young kid. I attribute that passion to my father, who was a farmer and worked harder than anyone I know, and my grandfather, who is 89 years old and continues to farm our centennial homestead along the Riding Mountains. Their hard work and perseverance were inspiring. Even though I didn’t know it at the time, I am driven to solve some of agriculture’s biggest challenges because of them. I watched them persevere through challenges that we now have the potential to solve. I hope that future farmers can spend more time using their intuition in nurturing their land and animals, while tools and technology ease the burden on future generations of farmers.
What brought you to your current role?
It was my passion for advancing technological solutions in agriculture and sustainability that ultimately led to my transition from engineering management to launching Alterra Innovation. While working in the food processing and farm equipment supply sectors, I saw many opportunities and gaps between on-farm practices and technology solutions that I wanted to solve. I set myself on a new path to create a company that can bridge the gap between the possibilities that technology presents for agriculture and the realistic, practical application of those technologies on-farm.
How does digital agriculture or agtech play a role in your current job?
We are constantly seeking suitable, pragmatic and advanced digital solutions for practical challenges in agriculture. With the shift of population and academia to urban populations, there has been a natural gap that formed between farming and technology. We are seeking to fill that gap by connecting the full spectrum of digital technologies, from simple to advanced, with on-farm challenges that will help agriculture to become more efficient, sustainable, and resilient.
What’s your favorite part about working in digital agriculture and agri-food?
It is incredible to observe nature and discover new ways to support food production with advanced technologies (or even better – simple, low-tech solutions). I am inspired by my upbringing on the farm and am excited to advance my knowledge of on-farm challenges to create solutions that can be deployed to make farming better. Combining a passion for farming with engineering in digital agriculture is incredibly fulfilling. I find joy in supporting sustainable food production, optimizing farm operations, and exploring how technology can work in harmony with nature.
What advice would you give someone considering a career in digital agriculture?
The best advice that I can give to someone wanting to get into digital agriculture is: Begin at the farm. Seeds are rooted in soil and livestock are grown in real-life conditions. Digital technologies and tools have amazing potential to improve agriculture, but they must have ‘the farm’ as a core focus. Get your hands dirty in the soil, work with livestock, and spend time with farmers to truly understand the challenges and opportunities that exist in agriculture – then look for solutions, digital or otherwise, to provide adoptable, long-term improvement for the industry.
In 2024, Alterra Innovation received an Emergence Grant from EMILI to validate its GrainTracker system at Innovation Farms. The impact of receiving this grant from EMILI “was pivotal in developing GrainTracker,” said Burton. “It enabled us to pilot our MVP on farms in Western Canada, marking a significant step towards enhancing operational efficiency and traceability.”
This profile is part of EMILI’s This is Agriculture series, highlighting talented and diverse individuals across the digital agriculture sector. While individuals working in agriculture come from a variety of backgrounds, they share a common interest in growing and strengthening Canadian agriculture to ensure an environmentally and economically sustainable future for generations to come.
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