Rules & Regulations

1. Organized by the Agri-Trade Farm Equipment Exposition and its partners, (The Westerner Exposition Association and the Red Deer Chamber of Commerce) The Agri-Trade Ag Innovation Awards System highlights trail-blazing innovations in the agricultural sector and supports communication concerning them.
2. An impartial committee appointed by the Agri-Trade partners  is responsible for all entry judging.
3. All companies registered as exhibitors at Agri-Trade 2011 whose products fall within the sectors listed below may participate.
4. Participation is voluntary and does not involve any additional costs. The participant or his / her legal successor shall bear sole responsibility for observing all relevant statutory provisions and Agri-Trade Ag Innovation regulations.
5. Products from the following Ag Service Sectors shall be admitted:
   • Machinery and Components
   • Grain Storage and handling
   • Production Inputs (Fertilizer, Chemicals, Feed, etc.)
   • Technology (Computers, Software, GPS, Sensors, Controllers, etc.)
   • Livestock Handling Equipment
   • Value Added Processing Equipment
   • Tools and Shop Equipment
   • Ag Service Sector (Financial, Consulting, etc.)
   • Environmental and Safety Related Products
   • Renewable Energy (Bio Gas, Bio Fuel, Solar, Wind, etc.)
   • Other
6. Recognitions for Agri-Trade Ag Innovation will be awarded for products or services with a new concept showing crucially modified functions which can be used to allow a new process or essentially improve known processes or for products or services which have been developed further in such a fashion that an essential improvement of the functions or processes may be expected. The following aspects are crucial for the award: importance for practical application, advantages in work performance , the work quality and operational reliability, impacts on farm and labor management, the environment and the energy efficiency and the effects facilitating work and safety at work will be impacted. Products or services that receive the Agri-Trade Ag Innovation Awards must be operable and in service at the time of Agri-Trade and available on the market during the following year.
7. In addition to the new innovations awards, products and services that are already known on the market but are new to the company could also be included in the Ag Innovations campaign. Such products would show a certain degree of innovation.
8. The printed submission form attached to these Regulations is to be used. A separate form must be completed for each innovation.
9. The submission together with the submission form, photos, sketches and brochures must be submitted to Agri-Trade.
10. Justification in support of the submission must be attached (e.g. improved quality of labor, higher work performance, greater operational reliability). The submission forms should make it clear what is new and advantageous about the product or service submitted. The novel product or service properties should be described plausibly and if possible be documented by impartial test results.
11. For illustration in the media a publication quality photo must be attached as a print, slide or on a data medium (CD-ROM). All publications and reproduction rights are to be transferred to Agri-Trade.
12. All papers and documents must be received by the stated deadline by the Agri-Trade Ag Innovation committee c/o Agri-Trade, 3017 - 50th Avenue, Red Deer, Alberta T4N 5Y6. The date of the postmark shall apply. No submissions received after this date will be considered.
13. Any submission papers received after the deadline, any inadequately described products or services or any incomplete submission forms shall not be eligible for consideration. Exhibitors must ensure that copyrights are protected and relevant patent registrations are in place for the submissions presented. Agri-Trade assures exhibitors that all documents submitted will be treated in the strictest confidence.
14. Agri-Trade shall appoint a committee of recognized experts for the sectors listed under Section 5 to assess the innovations. The committee shall satisfy the following criteria: it shall be independent and impartial, competent to assess proposed innovations, oriented to practice on the basis of the documents submitted so that that committee can reach an assessment in accordance with Section 5.
15. The decision on awards will be taken in accordance with the guidelines established. The decision of the committee shall be final. In the event that no award is issued, the committee will not be obliged to inform the exhibitor of the reasons for rejection. Such details shall remain strictly confidential. There may be no recourse to a court of law.
16. In publicity and promotion measures, it must be ensured that anything that could be misleading is omitted. All statements must satisfy the law on competition. The participants or their legal successors shall bear sole responsibility for this.
17. The Agri-Trade Ag Innovation Committee reserves the right to strip award-winners of their awards if they have made incorrect or misleading statements about the award winning innovation or seriously contravened the provisions regarding promotion of said award or awards.
18. Claims for damages are ruled out unless they are based on deliberate or grossly negligent acts.
19. The venue for all disputes arising from the Award shall be Red Deer, Alberta
20. On signature of the submission form, the Award in the currently valid form shall be legally binding for the participant.
21. Winning entries from previous Ag Innovations competitions cannot be re-submitted. Previous Finalist Ag Innovations entries can be submitted.