SASKATOON, Sask. — Ethan Done knew the challenges farmers now face, and with Saskatchewan an agriculture-centred province, he developed technology to help them make faster decisions about crop diseases by bringing testing closer to the field and reducing the time producers wait for lab results.
Done’s background comes less from farming itself and more from the machinery and manufacturing side of the industry. He said members of his family worked in manufacturing and engineering, giving him an appreciation for the equipment used in agriculture even though he did not grow up on a farm.
That background plus his scientific experience led to birth of PathoScan – a portable, field-ready diagnostic system created by PathoScan Technologies to test crops for plant diseases directly on-site in under an hour. At the same time, he developed diagnostic tests for the federal government. He had the opportunity to turn complicated processes into technology that could be used more easily outside a traditional laboratory.
Done said the concept began to take shape after the technology was demonstrated at Ag in Motion, a major agricultural exhibition. While the younger generation of farmers experimented with the technology, their parents saw a potential practical application.
PathoScan helped shape its focus on making agricultural testing practical and accessible. As the company expands, Done said the goal remains centred on helping producers make better-informed decisions quickly — particularly when a disease can move faster than a conventional testing process.
“My idea was, why don’t we simplify what we’re doing in the lab and make it all display that kids could use? The parents really loved it, and they started asking me, ‘Can we bring this onto our farm?,’” said Done.
That response convinced Done there was a commercial opportunity. He took the idea to a University of Saskatchewan funding competition, where he won about $3,000, which helped turn the early concept into what is now PathoScan.
Identifying crop diseases
The technology is designed to help farmers identify crop diseases quickly enough to make decisions during critical periods of the growing season. Done said canola is one of the clearest examples of how faster testing could benefit producers.
When canola begins flowering, the crop can be affected by sclerotinia, a fungal disease that can develop after the pathogen lands on a plant's petals. If conditions are right and treatment isn't applied at the right time, the disease can progress and damage the plant's ability to produce pods.
“With PathoScan, what you can do is you can actually go over the field, take the petals, test them and figure out how many plants in your field have disease,” said Done, who added that the information can then help farmers decide whether a fungicide application is warranted.
The timing of that decision can have significant implications, adding that farmers may have roughly 10 days between the first appearance of the disease and the period when they need to spray, meaning conventional laboratory testing can leave producers with little time to act.
“If you can imagine that, here’s a day of driving, there’s two or three days of actually testing it, and then you get the results back. By then, often you don’t have enough time actually to go and spray the plants,” said Done.
“PathoScan is intended to shorten that process and give farmers a straightforward answer on whether they need to spray. It’s important to note that you can get a very quick answer: do you need to spray? Yes or no.”
Other analyses
While canola and sclerotinia have been major areas of use, he said the technology is not limited to one crop or one disease. PathoScan is being used for Fusarium head blight and other analyses, while the underlying technology could potentially be adapted to identify a much broader range of pathogens.
The company is already operating beyond Saskatchewan and has also received orders from Alberta and Manitoba, with approximately 20,000 acres currently under their active surveillance. The geographic reach demonstrates what Done sees as an opportunity for rapid crop-disease testing across the Prairies.
Done said government, especially at the federal level, and university support have also played a role in the company's development, funding his work and research while keeping the company connected to the University of Saskatchewan and its scientific expertise.
“My funding was a really huge help there from the federal government. They pay for a lot of R&D that we do, and they also keep us tied to the university. So this is all backed by science,” said Done, adding that the company has a university advisory board intended to provide scientific oversight.
Growing interest
Interest from farmers has continued to grow, particularly after the company’s demonstration at this year’s Ag in Motion, with visitors curious about how the technology worked, and many tried it themselves, with generally positive feedback.
Some suggestions, such as increasing the device's speaker volume, were relatively minor and could be addressed as the technology develops and demand increases, which also created challenges for the company, currently run by two people.
Done said PathoScan sold more units than expected this year and experienced supply shortages, leaving some interested farmers unable to obtain the technology when they needed it.
“Unfortunately, this year, we sold so much — we actually smashed our projections. There were a lot of people that we were unfortunately not able to help this year,” said Done, adding that their next priority is building the infrastructure to support its growth, ensuring farmers receive equipment when needed.
The company has received investment from venture partners and is now looking at how to scale its operations while maintaining farmer support, which means establishing dedicated customer service and improving supply chains.
He is encouraging farmers to place orders earlier rather than immediately before they need the technology, as the company's next step is to streamline its processes to support growing demand better.
