Farmers and techie types gather in Saskatoon to brainstorm at Agriculture Hackathon

The worlds of agriculture and high technology will merge this weekend in Saskatoon for the first ever hackathon dedicated to farming in Canada.

The Emerging Agriculture Hackathon will feature professionals getting together to brainstorm ways to solve a variety of challenges in the farm sector. It starts Friday night at Innovation Place.

Participants will start the weekend by sharing ideas and then form groups to refine the ideas through Saturday and Sunday.

"It could be a problem that currently a farmer or an agrologist is facing or any sort of issue the agricultural sector is having," Emmanuel Ojukwu, one of the organizers of the event, explained.

"We're hoping that the technologies and the services created are positive," Ojukwu added. "We hope to stir [excitement] and the amount of contacts from industry that are going to be there, individuals will see their ideas have real potential."

The event will include a panel to evaluate the ideas that are developed and prizes will be awarded.

The first place prize is 10 hours of consulting from a Saskatoon firm.