July 23, 2010, Drumbo, Ont. – John Malecki of J. Malecki Holdings Ltd. knows how to sow with precision.

Lambton, Kent, Middlesex MPP Maria Van Bommel (at left) congratulates Mary Ann Malecki and John Malecki of J. Malecki Holdings Ltd.

He designed and developed two types of automated precision seeding equipment for use by greenhouse operations that grow cabbage, broccoli and cauliflower. The systems earned the company one of 55 regional awards in the five-year, $2.5-million Premier’s Award for Agri-Food Innovation Excellence program.

• The “muck bed seeder” is considered to be among the highest quality and most competitively priced in the market and shows promise in increasing acreage plant yields by 20 to 40 per cent.

• The “tray propagation seeding system” enabled a team of three people to seed 3,000 trays in a single day, a process that usually takes five people up to a week to complete. The equipment is rented out to other growers and generates 70 per cent of the farm’s income.

“The Premier’s Award for Agri-Food Innovation Excellence recognizes the unique and forward-thinking approach that Ontario’s farmers, agri-food business, and agri-food related organizations take to running their business now and in the future,” said Carol Mitchell, Ontario Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs.