Note For BC Farms/Wineries - New Grant Funding
New funding from Innovate BC for On-Farm Technology Program
I wanted to send out a quick note on a program that has just opened up. The BC On-Farm Technology Adoption Program. This grant is focused on labour-saving technologies.
I always get excited by these programs as it’s free money for farms and is usually quite easy to get. The government does a good job on these programs.
Key Details:
Grant covers 65% up to $100,000
Covers a wide range of labour-saving technologies (more on that below)
For all farms (not just vineyards)
It is not IAF so does not require an EFP (to my knowledge, waiting for confirm)
Is not IAF so funding limits there do not apply here
You must be a farm operating for 2+ years with over $50k in annual revenue
Open now until October 6th - but apply ASAP
I wouldn’t apply unless you have projects over $5k (not worth the time otherwise)
What’s Eligible?
A very wide range of tech is eligible. I won’t list everything here, just the highlights. You can find a bigger list here.
The focus is labour-saving technologies. Equipment not on this list can potentially be approved with a good argument. If it’s labour saving (with evidence) for your farm or winery (assuming your winery has a vineyard) then you have a very strong chance.
Autonomous equipment for weeding, harvesting, pruning, sorting etc.
Autonomous sorting and other harvest management
Autonomous precision fertilisation (hello)
Leaf, soil and plant sap sensors as well as dashboards
AI for climate monitoring or weed management
Farm business management tools
What You’ll Probably Use it For
There are a lot of potential applications for this funding. And again - it’s covering 65%!
If you were looking at any autonomous equipment, especially for larger farms, this is a no-brainer. If you were needing to upgrade some of your winery equipment for harvest, again, no brainer. Autonomous does not mean AI-driven by the way but does mean technology that is clearly reducing labour hours.
If there’s any major new farm equipment you were looking at then now is an excellent time. It may mean going for a higher tech version of what you were considering to make it eligible - but again at 65% the savings are substantial. And of course you don’t buy until the funding is approved so there is no risk (do not buy before the grant is approved!)
There are also a few other cases specific to what Vintality does (more on that below) I think we’ll see a lot of applications for.
I also wonder if it will cover smart valves like those used by Verdi and Lumo. I’m not 100%, but with the right argument I think so. If you were looking at trialing these systems now might be a way to save some money.
It won’t cover equipment that is already widely used in BC. For example, it won’t cover machine harvesters or drones. But! If there have been some sort of technological advance (that is not widely used in BC) then it can become eligible again. Let’s say the machine harvester has a new level of AI or other automation, then it likely becomes eligible again.
Strikingly, even as we’re being challenged by climate conditions government support programs for investing in agriculture have been excellent. There hasn’t been a better time to improve our efficiencies
Ways to Use with Us
Obviously my mind jumps to what work we do for farms and wineries. Here are a few things:
Quite awesome - they will cover spreaders.
If you’re not familiar, these are trellising pieces (middle picture) that reduce tucking by 3-5x. They do this by permanently widening the canopy to allow the canopy to grow in more space. They also improve fruit quality and spray efficacy (see here and here for more info). They are widely used in France and in many other wine regions.
Because of the impact they have on saving labour, and because they pay for themseleves in 2-3 years, this grant will cover them.
So if you were thinking about spreaders - or are interested - now is an amazing time.Our precision irrigation system. Because of it’s use of smart sensors it also will be eligible. So both the dashboard and soil and other aplicable sensors. We’ve been getting great feedback on this system.
We’ve also been partnering with an excellent company called Fruition Sciences. we highly, highly recommend them. They are big on sap flow sensors and this tech would be covered by the grant.
We also have our Chembox - a precision fertilisation system. You can find out more here and message if interested.
How to Apply
You can find the main website here and program guide here.
The application is more involved than the IAF but is not that onerous. You do not require an Environmental Farm Plan (EFP) to my recollection (90% sure).
You will need a confirmation of two years of revenue and quotes from the supplier(s) with a confirmed delivery date.
You’ll also need to put a bit of thought into how much labour its saving and the pay back period. For our spreaders for example, you would need to calculate how much tucking your doing now (in a normal year ha!) and then how much labour your saving by reducing it to 1-2x. Factor in improved spray penetration and use that to calculate how much your saving and thus the pay back period. Not complicated, just takes some thought.
These are definitely applications you can do yourself. If you are interested in help, we do provide some grant writing services (we don’t charge if the application is used for our own activities). You can contact us at terroir@vintality.com
If you have any interest, I’d strongly encourage you to get an application in as soon as you reasonably can before they run out of money.
As I mentioned at the start, I wouldn’t apply for any project under $5k due to the time investment. But anything above that - it’s not hugely time consuming and with a strong application has a very high chance of approval. And given that you won’t purchase before grant approval - there is no financial risk.
Any questions, please feel free to contact us.
Cheers.