Innovation leads the way at Farm Progress show

REGINA – It’s the largest trade show in the country, Canada’s Farm Progress show at Evraz Place.

Around 40,000 people are expected to take part, each looking to improve their farming practices.

“You can come to the farm progress show and basically see the latest and greatest innovations and also products that are available with regards to dry land farming technology in the world,” said show chair Rene Carpentier.

This year there are 700 exhibitors hawking their wares and more than 70 of them are from foreign countries.

“The reason I am here is to find a company that can sell my equipment all over Canada,” said inventor Harrie Hoeben.

He flew all the way from the Netherlands to show off the Wings Sprayer, a product that improves chemical spraying efficiency.

Hoeben said the adaptation can work with any existing sprayer. “We fit it on the boom, it’s a windshield.”

It’s also durable, made from a plastic composite used in the aerospace industry.

The windshield helps ensure the spray targets the individual plants, and doesn’t drift away or vaporize into the atmosphere. Normally, if you want to go fast, or there’s a wind, there’s a large mist trail left behind from spraying.

“In the Canadian market, you always have wind, and very dry air,” said Hoeben. “It’s important that farmers can use equipment without emissions to the environment.”

The Wings Sprayer makes sense to wheat farmer James Dahlberg.

“It looks like it’d do a good job moving the foliage around and getting the spray where you want it,” he said. “You’re not drifting into other fields and hurting other people’s crop, or hurting other foliage.”

Like most inventions, the biggest hurdle the Wings Sprayer faces is the cost.

“They have to be UV resistant. They have to be chemical resistant, and that makes it difficult because the price is very high,” said Hoeben.