Working Together to Build Solutions

The strategic intent of Olds College and the Smart Farm is to better the agricultural industry. This happens by educating students, performing research, testing products and services, and communicating the benefits of those products and services in the marketplace. The ecosystem at Olds College provides partners with a unique means of gaining boots-on-the-ground testing and learnings for their technologies and practices. This also includes support in disseminating results to producers and other industry stakeholders through communications and events, such as our annual educational expo AgSmart. Strategic partners benefit from an environment of teaching and learning, and an ecosystem that brings community members together. Olds College has the ability to test products and technology, and to educate and communicate the learnings and applications to students, farmers and industry. Strategic partners also benefit from the College’s ability to support development, validation, scaling and demonstration of technologies and practices. Through connections with Alberta Innovates, the Central Alberta Regional Innovation Network (CARIN), SVG Thrive and UCeed, the Smart Farm is able to connect clients with business readiness supports, training, and resources to help innovators market products and ideas — which includes access to venture capitalists to further develop ideas. The Smart Farm offers guidance to external networks and support systems, provides training and resources to market products and ideas, and encourages innovation towards a sustainable agriculture industry. Applied research is at the heart of the Olds College Smart Farm. Having 3,600 acres of farmland for crop and forage production, state-of-the-art equipment and technology, and cattle and sheep provides a real strategic benefit in providing results producers can use. The Smart Farm provides researchers and partners with the ability to take things that are new and novel, and may still require development, and apply them to a real-world environment. This gives our strategic partners the opportunity to truly see their technology in action. Strategic partnerships encourage this collaborative spirit. Partners such as TELUS Agriculture, ATB Financial, Farm Credit Canada, United Farmers of Alberta, Trimble, and Thrive by SVG Ventures are actively supporting applied research and the work on the Smart Farm to bring real solutions for real challenges. The work continues and Olds College welcomes strategic partners who are looking to invest in building solutions, who are looking to test solutions, or who are still developing solutions. The Smart Farm is a place that can bring everyone together to support the work of bettering agriculture. Stuart Cullum President, Olds College The Olds College Smart Farm. Canada’s first Smart Farm. A leading-edge learning environment that has grown to 3,600 acres. I’m so proud of the accomplishments we’ve achieved over the last five years at the College. The collaboration between companies, institutions, investors, producers, researchers, faculty and students on the Smart Farm directly contributes to advancing agriculture and accelerating the progress and innovation needed to grow Canada’s ag industry. New technologies for agriculture require development, in-field testing and validation in the setting of an operating farm to move through the innovation chain — and into the hands of producers and other agriculture participants. The Olds College Smart Farm provides this invaluable lab space and hands-on learning environment for industrydriven applied research, which falls directly in line with our social purpose of transforming agriculture for a better world. We strive to get the information generated on the Olds College Smart Farm into the hands of the people who will spur the adoption of ag technologies which benefit producers, innovators and industry stakeholders. Sourced from a series of partner and stakeholder interviews, this Smart Farm Impact Report highlights the impact our industry-driven applied research, education and training is making in Alberta and beyond. I’d like to also take a moment to personally thank a couple of our donors who have made direct and substantial contributions to the Olds College Smart Farm. The support from our good neighbours, Margery and George Steckler, is instrumental to the Olds College Smart Farm — and its expansion to 3,600 acres. Harvesting our first crop last year on the Steckler Farm was a momentous milestone. And this year, their donation of 800 acres in Craik, Saskatchewan allowed us to form the Olds College Saskatchewan Smart Farm. The Stecklers are helping the College reach beyond our borders to expand our ag-tech training and applied research opportunities here in Alberta — and now in Saskatchewan. Their legacy and generosity is endless. I also want to thank Bob and Carollyne Collier for their continued support of our students, the Smart Farm and the agriculture industry. Their recent $2 million gift is supporting enhanced learning experiences of students within the Werklund School of Agriculture Technology, along with the growth of smart ag applied research and development of the Olds College Smart Farm. We’re so happy you’ve been inspired by the entrepreneurial spirit shown by our students. Signing memorandum of understandings with Saskatchewan Polytechnic, the University of Saskatchewan, and the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences helps Olds College build a strong network of post-secondaries committed to supporting education, sustainability and technology in the ag industry. As home to Canada’s first Smart Farm, we also continue to lead the Pan-Canadian Smart Farm Network to build a collaborative framework among Canada’s Smart Farm initiatives.

I proudly present the 2022 Smart Farm Impact Report to showcase our industrydriven applied research, education and training — and the positive impact we’re making in Canada’s ag industry.