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By: Darby McGrath
I have been thinking a lot about what it means to make good decisions in a sector that is changing quickly. In horticulture, the next major advance may not come only from a new crop, product, or production system. It may also come from a better way of seeing what is already happening around us and using that understanding earlier and more confidently.
Across the sector, those decisions are becoming more complex. Growers, researchers, technology developers, and decision-makers are navigating labour shortages, climate variability, rising costs, pressure to improve productivity, and a growing need to demonstrate sustainability with stronger evidence.
At the same time, more information is becoming available than ever before. Sensors, automation, imaging systems, artificial intelligence, models, and data platforms are changing what we can measure, monitor, and predict. The leadership question is how to make sense of that information in ways that are useful, credible, and timely.
The opportunity is not simply to collect more data. It is to understand which information matters, how to interpret it and how to use it early enough to support better decisions.
This is where Digital Horticulture becomes important: not as a buzzword, but as a way of connecting science, technology, and decision-making in a more practical and useful way.
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From Data to Decisions
When people hear Digital Horticulture, they often think first about tools: artificial intelligence, robotics, sensors, automation, software platforms, or digital twins.
Those tools matter, but they are not the end point.
The real value comes when digital tools help us ask better questions, test ideas faster, and turn complex information into insight that growers and the sector can use. Traditional approaches often tell us what happened. Digital approaches can help us understand what is happening now, what may happen next, and where action can have the greatest impact.
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A practical example is Vineland’s ERP Readiness Self-Assessment Tool, which helps horticultural businesses assess their people, processes, and data before investing in an enterprise resource planning system. It reinforces the same principle: the first step is not adopting technology for its own sake, but understanding what information matters, where gaps exist, and what needs to be in place so digital tools can support better decisions.
In other words, Digital Horticulture adds a new layer of evidence, one that can support stronger interpretation, more confident decisions, and faster translation of science into practice.
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Why this Matters Now
For Ontario’s horticulture sector, this prompts a different kind of question: not simply whether technology is available, but how it can be applied in ways that solve real problems, fit production realities, and create practical value.
Those questions are becoming more important as the sector looks for more predictive, precise, and sustainable approaches to production, crop protection, labour efficiency, and resource management.
For many organizations, the challenge is not too little data. It is knowing what the data means, which signals are useful, and how to move from information to action with confidence.
Digital Horticulture can help reveal patterns that would otherwise be difficult to see, including:
- early indicators of crop stress, risk, or opportunity
- differences in performance across varieties, treatments, or production systems
- new ways to connect research evidence with grower decision-making
- tools that support validation, adoption, and commercialization
Turning Capability into Impact
At Vineland Research and Innovation Centre, our interest in Digital Horticulture is focused on exactly this challenge: building the people, collaborations and capabilities needed to turn emerging technologies into practical horticultural solutions.
That means creating a trusted environment to explore, test and validate digital approaches before they are applied at scale. It also means bringing different disciplines together, including horticultural science, engineering, data science, automation, economics, and commercialization.
The most exciting part is that this field is still being defined. The most valuable applications may not be obvious yet. They will emerge through collaboration, experimentation, and a clear focus on sector needs.
That creates a rare opportunity for scientists, growers, entrepreneurs, technology partners, and decision-makers to help shape what comes next.
Digital Horticulture is not about replacing expertise. It is about extending it. It gives us new ways to read the system, interpret signals, and make decisions earlier, with better evidence and greater confidence.
That shift matters.
It moves us from reacting to problems after they appear to recognizing patterns earlier.
It helps move ideas from possibility to practical use.
And it gives Ontario’s horticulture sector a stronger foundation for innovation that is useful, credible, and ready to create impact.
If that vision excites you too, I hope you’ll follow along.
Better yet, I hope you’ll help build it with us.