Adopting new technology on the farm — from new hybrids to new pesticides, to full-on automation — comes with a price tag. This new or additional cost might be absolutely worth it if the technology makes more yield, decreases input costs, or saves you time and labour. While most technology comes to the farm with… Read More
At the National Farm Machinery Show at Louisville, Kentucky, Trimble was providing a connected farm tour. One of the highlighted kiosks shown was the steering and guidance solutions station that featured the brand-new GFX-350 display. The Android-based platform is on a 7″ display and runs Precision IQ — the Trimble software. Jesse Chisholm, director of… Read More
What technology can do for farmers in today’s day and age is incredible when compared to what there was even just 10 or 20 years ago. That being said, adopting technology can also have setbacks when it comes to cost, availability, ease of use, and more. At this year’s CropSphere conference, Brian Tischler, farmer from… Read More
Using 280 words to say what you feel about a certain subject, or to describe what’s going on at your farm operation, is a thing of the past according to one keynote speaker at the Prairie Cereals Summit. Jordyn Prior, an essay contest winner, says she’s seen a shift in which social media platforms consumers… Read More
Custom applicators and farmers looking to use drones to apply herbicides to crops in Canada are still in a holding pattern. Operator licensing and certification is now available from Transport Canada, but Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA) requirements continue to ground herbicide application from unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), reports Don Campbell, owner and and founder… Read More
A new sprayer prototype built through the collaboration of three companies, is looking to lower the cost of production and protect the environment by providing real time detection and spray application of weeds in row crops. Developed through the joint efforts of Amazone, Bosch and xarvio, SmartSprayer uses software based on economic thresholds to make… Read More
Are Ontario cash crop growers making effective use of tissue testing to enhance yield and crop performance? The answer requires a little perspective says Jack Legg, agronomist with Guelph-based SGS Agri-food Laboratories. Tissue testing, which provides an accurate measurement of the nutrients within a plant at a given time, has traditionally been used to confirm… Read More
Operating a combine in variable conditions can prove fatiguing, with constant adjustments necessary to prevent over- or under-loading the machine. A new technology from John Deere is offering the automation of that process. “It’s called predicted feed rate control,” says John Deere’s Nathan Greuel, “and it uses a combination of both cameras and satellite imagery… Read More
China-based company XAG is growing a name for itself, recently displaying a series of fully autonomous drones and farm monitoring sensors at Agritechnica, in Hanover, Germany. Founded in 2007, XAG now has laboratories and research stations in 38 countries, and is focused on developing technology to address plant protection, crop monitoring, and farm management. Its… Read More
Canadian telecommunications company Telus has acquired a second agriculture company, Decisive Farming. Although some were keen to point out the new logo on the Decisive Farming website, including the phrase ‘powered by TELUS’ the purchase was confirmed today by Decisive Farming spokesperson, Breanne Baker. “Yes, Decisive Farming has joined the TELUS family,” she wrote in… Read More
With the agricultural sector changing at a rapid pace, producers have to be able to adapt to new practises in order to improve the outcome on the farm — which can come with its challenges . At this year’s Grain World conference, a panel discussed what trends and ideas will shape the future. On the… Read More
On the surface, it doesn’t seem like doctors and farmers have all that much in common. When you dig a little deeper, however, there is at least one major similarity: up until about five to 10 years ago doctors worked almost exclusively with paper records. Farmers largely still do. But Telus, with its recent purchase… Read More
We’ve all heard the phrase “plant to moisture,” but we’ve also seen the moisture variability that can occur within a few paces, never mind over an entire field. Precision Planting LLC is working on a technology that will take moisture variability into account, automatically adjusting drilling depth on-the-go. The system uses SmartDepth (a prototype) in… Read More
Be the change or be changed, says Nikolas Badminton, futurist and TechTour alumnus. What does that mean for agriculture? Well, according to Badminton, it means that farmers are either going to have to adapt and evolve their practices, technology, and equipment, or someone else willing to do so will be the one farming and not them…. Read More
Perhaps a somewhat surprising candidate for enhancing telecommunications, John Deere is currently running a prototype in Brazil that is giving remote and rural farmers the opportunity to use equipment and technology to its fullest. “This is a first try to get real, good connectivity, and 5G technology, and with broadband,” says Johannes Bosch, in the… Read More