Fieldays announces Innovation Awards finalists for 2022

VR being displayed at last year's Fieldays at Mystery Creek, Hamilton. Photo / Barker Photography

The finalists for this year's Innovation Awards at Fieldays are the "who's who" and "who's that" of the food and fibre sector, and that is exactly what the team at Fieldays hoped for.

Held at the Fieldays Innovation Hub, the awards are the ultimate launch platform for primary innovation and are a globally renowned awards programme. Winners will be announced at the Innovation Awards event during Fieldays, and will also feature on Fieldays TV. The awards are judged by a panel of 15 experts from the food and fibre sector. They are excited about meeting this year's finalists and finding out more about their innovations and what sets them apart from the competition. "A huge thanks to our judges again this year," said Steve Chappell, programme manager for Fieldays. "There is a long history of Fieldays Innovation Awards winners going on to do massive things, and we can't wait to see who is next."

This year, 65 finalists have been selected to showcase their innovations: 21 in the Prototype category, 31 in Early-Stage, and 13 in Growth & Scale.  Four of these entries are also in the running for the Young Innovator of the Year award; 52 of the entrants in the ever-popular Innovation Hub, and 13 others will participate from the Innovation Trail, displaying their innovation from their sites around the event. Innovations include a mix of technological solutions like data recording, sensors and automation and everyday products that could revolutionise the Primary Industries.

"Most of these ideas are coming from people thinking 'there must be a better way!' and doing something about it. Doing the R&D, listening to feedback, and devising a real viable solution to the problem."

"We are seeing entries from a wide range of sectors within the industry: dairy, forestry, farm management, animal health & genetics, horticulture and viticulture, water and waste management and more. It's awesome to see the number of entries with an environment and conservation focus, as it shows the Innovators are developing novel solutions to the problems of today and the future."

"We have well-established NZ companies and returning Innovation Award alumni as finalists, which is great because it shows the appetite to innovate is strong as always. It is fantastic to see entries from left field too," said Chappell.

The finalists range from individuals, local Waikato companies, and New Zealand-based global companies, to entries from Australian, American, Israeli, English, and Irish companies that are dipping their toes into the NZ market.

The finalists and their award categories are:

Prototype:

AgLoco Ltd, AgriSea NZ Ltd, Breakaway Farm, Common Knowledge Insect, Delta Waterways, Donald Cornwall, Gallagher Group Ltd, Herdsman SCC, Infinity Fence, MACSO Technologies, MixRite, NZ AutoTraps (two entries), On2it Electronics, Onfarm Data Ltd, Smart Farmer Ltd, St Paul's Collegiate School (two entries), University of Waikato (three entries)

Early-Stage:

Agovor, Agriscore Limited, Agricademy, Beefree Agro, Bio Gold Pine Pollen, Bovonic, Cleanery, Concept Dairy, Datamars Livestock (two entries), Farmgate, Farmote Systems, Goldpine, GPSit Group Limited, H2Ortigator, IDEXX, Ingenum, L2C Compacting Systems, Machines at Work, Pāmu Farms of New Zealand, Precast Products, ProTag, QCONZ, Rapid Spray, Ravensdown Ecopond, SNPshot, Springarm Products Limited, SPS Automation, Sustainable Foods/Plan*t, Watercare, WelFarm LTD

Growth and Scale:

AHV New Zealand LTD, CropX Limited, Farmax, Halo Systems, Herdwatch, HerdX powered by Snap Core, HydroMetrics, Koru Diagnosis, OmniEye Ltd, Onside Ltd, QCONZ, RiverWatch, Rurtec.

Finalists stand to be rewarded as the total prize package is more than $60,000 of cash, services and products. "The range of prizes in each category allow individuals and companies, big or small, to get the support, recognition, and mentoring they require to take their innovation to the next level." said Chappell.

"We are so thankful to our sponsors Vodafone NZ, Massey University, AWS, Gait International, NZME, King St Advertising, Blender Design, Sprout Agritech, and Soda Inc"

The Fieldays Innovation Hub can be found on the corner of D Street and M Road at Fieldays from November 30 to December 3 this year. The Innovation Trail can be activated on the map section of the Fieldays App. Full details of the prize package for each category can be found at fieldays.co.nz/innovation. With Fieldays 2023 returning to its normal June timing, expressions of interest are already open for the 2023 competition.