Benchtop unit now available for limited pre-order

Ground Truth Ag provided a sneak peak of their benchtop prototype at Canada’s Farm Show earlier this summer. The unit, which can sit on a small table, uses machine vision to assess the quality of Canadian Western Red Spring wheat with more grain types planned for the future.

“We chose Canadian Red Spring wheat as it’s one of the hardest grains to grade with many factors that can impact quality such as ergot, fusarium, frost, heat stress, insect damage, grass green, mildew and so forth,” Ground Truth Ag's founder and CEO Kyle Folk said. “This has allowed our team to build out as many characteristics as possible.”

Users pour samples of grain into the machine. The unit uses machine vision to assess the visual qualities of the grain, identifying damage or disease that negatively impact grain quality. The process is quick with larger samples taking up to a couple of minutes and there is no limit to the number of samples the unit can assess.

"The benchtop unit has proven to be an important step in the ultimate goal of an on-combine version that will take continuous samples and add near-infrared spectroscopy to provide protein and moisture content and other non-visual factors," Folk explains.

Canada’s Farm Show was the first trade show the Regina-based startup company attended as an exhibitor and one of a number planned for the 2023. At the show, Ground Truth Ag began accepting $250 fully refundable deposits for the limited pre-order. The same offer will be available for attendees at the Ag in Motion farm expo this week. This will secure buyers the opportunity to purchase the unit at a discount when available.

“We want to make sure we are there for any buyers who opt to become early adopters of our products,” Folk said. “From my experience having already successfully developed a new technology for farmers, you need to be available to make sure your product is working for them and they see it as a value-add to their enterprise.”