There was no escaping the fact that Elmia Lantbruk is a major event for the agricultural sector in Sweden. With over 21,612 visitors and 330 exhibitors, the exhibition halls were filled with a wide range of products where visitors could meet everything from large machines to exciting innovation projects.
The Knowledge Hub for Agricultural Digitalisation stand stood out, to say the least, with its pink colour, both in wipes, t-shirts and printed matter during Elmia Lantbruk 2024. With its location next to the three other knowledge hubs, a unified feeling of knowledge exchange in different areas was created. The Swedish Board of Agriculture, which has given Linköping University the opportunity to be responsible for the digitalisation hub, was also present, which became another piece of the puzzle to understand how everything is set up regarding the hubs.
The location and the occasion were of course an incredible opportunity for the digitisation hub to reach out and, above all, hear about the needs of farmers themselves, in terms of digitisation in agriculture. On site at the stand were representatives from both the office and the organisations that are part of the expert network. Visitors could meet David Askenteg and his colleague from Väderstad. Also present were Per-Anders Algerbo from RISE, Sara Lundberg from Växa Sverige, Gustaf Stache from Ludvig & Co and Sofie Johansson from Gård & Djurhälsan.
SeedEye systems and digital farms
There was a lot of digital technology of various kinds on site, Väderstad brought their demo of the SeedEye system that revolutionises sowing by eliminating the calibration requirement and offering real-time counting of the seed for precise sowing.
A drone from RISE that can read weeds in the fields, digital farms that can be monitored in real time, made by, among others, Victor Johansson, Växa Sverige with its sensor VäxaControl that can analyse the animals' well-being in real time and indicate heat stress. It was clear that digital technology was something that attracted visitors of all ages, and also provided proof that such a hub is actually needed.
On Wednesday, it was time for a presentation of the knowledge hub for the digitalisation of agriculture, on stage were the managers Per Frankelius and Karolina Muhrman and Ulrik Lovang from Lovang Lantbrukskonsult AB, who is also part of the expert network. Together they explained the purpose of the digitisation hub, how it is organised, what it will entail and, of course, the importance of digitisation in agriculture.
The Innovation Arena and Innovation Award
New this year was the Innovation Arena organised by Agtech Sweden together with Elmia, a space shared by 22 different companies and their innovative products. There is no doubt that this too goes hand in hand with the knowledge hub of agricultural digitalisation.Guided tours were also arranged through the area by Per Frankelius and Karolina Muhrman, organisational leaders of both Agtech Sweden and the Digitisation Hub, which included a familiar face. For a full hour, they had the opportunity to show the Minister for Rural Affairs, Peter Kullgren, all the innovations bubbling in the arena, something he showed great interest in.
On Thursday evening, it was time for the gala dinner organised by Elmia for all exhibitors. Here, a large crowd went up on stage and received the Innovation Award of the year, five gold winners, four silver winners and a people's choice award were presented.
The jury that had selected these winners consisted of Charlotte Önnestedt, Åby Storgård, Per Frankelius, Linköping University, Mikael Gilbertsson, Rise, Helena Kättström, Växa Sverige AB, Rebecca Johansson, Land Lantbruk, Carolina Axelsson, fair manager Elmia Lantbruk.
This year's gold winner:
- DeLaval Sales AB with their product DeLaval OceanBlu™ Spray OceanBlu™ Pro & OceanBlu™ Barrier
- Kverneland Group Sweden with Kverneland Pudama
- Rongers Agro o Industry Service AB with BinConnect - Silo monitoring
- Söderberg & Haak - Amazone Fertispot and Väderstad AB with Dynamic Track Marking.
Silver winner of the year:
- Tama Scandinavia with their product EZ- web
- Swedish John Deere - See & Spray
- Väderstad AB - New Electronic Control System WSX for TEMPO
- Ystadmaskiner AB with GreenTec Spider boom mower.
The winner of the people's choice award:
- Swedish John Deere with their See & Spray.