The history of the Prairie Agricultural Machinery Institute (PAMI) goes back over 30 years.  Its forerunner, an organization called Agricultural Machinery Administration (AMA), was established by the Saskatchewan Government over 50 years ago, in 1958.  Its purpose was to evaluate and test farm machinery.  The AMA was in operation until 1966.  Reports done by the AMA on older pieces of equipment are still available through PAMI.

PAMI was created when the Federal Government appointed a Royal Commission on Farm Machinery.  In 1971, this Commission recommended the creation of a central agency for testing and evaluating farm machinery in Canada.  By 1975 PAMI was operational with three locations in the Prairie Provinces: Humboldt, Saskatchewan; Portage la Prairie, Manitoba; and Lethbridge, Alberta.  PAMI was established to provide a unique resource to both farmers and agricultural machinery manufacturers of the prairies.  Programs to provide for the evaluation and development of agricultural machines, for research into matters concerning agricultural machines, and for the extension of information on agricultural machines were the primary concern for PAMI.

In 1988, the province of Alberta decided to withdraw and operate the Lethbridge centre under the name the “Alberta Farm Machinery Research Centre (AFMRC).”  A special Memorandum of Agreement was signed allowing for a continued and close working relationship between both test agencies.  This close working relationship is still in effect today.  In January 2001, the name of this organization was changed to the Agricultural Technology Centre (ATC).

From 1975 to 1988, PAMI was mainly government funded.  In 1988, due to diversification in agriculture and the high cost of evaluating machinery, changes were made so that PAMI would earn much of its revenues from fee-for-service work.  Government funding is now about 30% and PAMI's fee-for-service revenue is about 70%.

In 1991 PAMI assisted industry through the development of a company called Western Canada Testing Inc. (WESTEST).  WESTEST's mission is to operate a research and development facility and provide testing and engineering services to clients.  All personnel for testing, administrative, and management services are provided to WESTEST by PAMI.

Just as agriculture has seen many changes through the years, so has PAMI.  From PAMI's start of evaluating machinery, to the PAMI of today that is developing new technologies, equipment, and strategies, the organization has come a long way.

Today, PAMI is continues to work for the advancement of technology in agriculture through research and development.  In addition to this, PAMI has secured clients in forestry, mining, transportation, and the military.

PAMI's Logo History

PAMI has experienced a few corporate identity changes over the years. Originally, our logo was a line art representation of a tractor pulling an implement.

The next phase saw a version of the logo we have today, with our name shortened to Machinery Institute.

However, the public still identified us with our old acronym (PAMI) and changing over to Machinery Institute proved too difficult. The version we have today seems to have finally found itself at home. Combining our original acronym with the colorful logo identifies our name with the image.

The colors in our current logo symbolize what you would see when driving across the Canadian Prairies in summer: big BLUE skies, endless GREEN and HARVEST GOLD wheat fields (the Canadian Prairie produces some of the best quality wheat for breads and pastas of anywhere in the world), and bright, blooming YELLOW canola (researchers at the Agriculture Canada's Morden Research Station in Manitoba originally developed the popular oilseed).