Canada ag tech grant, seeking open source solutions specifically

This comes via Ryan Fobel and the GOSH community forum (forum.openhardware.science)…

Just came across this grant opportunity 1 that might be of interest to people in AgTech. Note that it is only open to for-profit companies incorporated in Canada (federally or provincially), but they are specifically looking for an “open-source platform”.

Challenge: “Precision agriculture technology is tailored to farms above 500 acres in size, so with farms below that acreage, or with an annual income below $75,000, the rate of adoption of these technologies declines significantly.”

Phase 1: Funding up to $150,000.00 CAD for up to 6 months
Phase 2: Funding up to $1,000,000.00 CAD for up to 2 years

From the problem statement:

“Recently, there has been interest among companies and other stakeholders that serve smaller-acreage farms that developing the enabling software using a common, open-source platform may be the best route to lower the initial and ongoing costs of acquiring precision agriculture/“smart” farming technologies. This challenge is seeking a solution that will see precision agriculture/“smart” farming technologies cost-scaled appropriately so benefits can be realized for smaller-acre operations, rather than for all farm sizes.”