CNH Industrial — the parent company of Case and New Holland — has entered into an agreement to purchase global satellite positioning company Hemisphere GNSS, whose subsidiaries include Outback Guidance. Hemisphere is owned by Unistrong, which is based in China. “This move enhances our automation and autonomy tech stack and broadens our talent pool,” said… Read More
Category: GPS
A Grande Prairie, Alta. company that designed an aftermarket remote-control system for controlling a tractor’s PTO and hydraulics has now developed a driverless system for grain bagging. RCFarmArm’s new GPS-controlled steering system for grain bagging tractors was on display as part of the Innovation Showcase at Manitoba Ag Days in Brandon, MB this week. “It’s… Read More
The StarFire 7000 is John Deere’s newest GPS receiver the company says this model offers several improvements over the last. Tyson Miazga, product systems specialist with John Deere, met with Real Agriculture’s Atley Hamlin at last week’s Western Canada Crop Production Show at Saskatoon to talk about the StarFire 7000 receiver. Miazga says, it is… Read More
An Edmonton-based autonomous agriculture start-up is developing a camera-based system that allows self-driving tractors to recognize and respond to changes in their surroundings. Mojow Autonomous Solutions was incorporated in early 2020. “We’ve developed an autonomous navigation and control kit that uses a camera for its main sensor,” explains founder and CEO Owen Kinch. “It allows… Read More
AGCO says it has acquired JCA Industries, Inc., a Manitoba-based company that develops software and electronic systems to control and automate tractors and agricultural machines. Headquartered in Winnipeg, JCA has worked behind-the-scenes with many agricultural equipment manufacturers on their electronic designs in the past, including projects focused on automation and robotics. For example, JCA worked… Read More
Trends and opportunities always seem to crop up in people’s minds as the end of the year draws closer and as we enter into a new one. In terms of digital technology, there are some new opportunities for applications in farm management. Casper Kaastra, general manager of crop production at Sollio Agriculture, recently spoke with… Read More
The future of agronomy is likely even more tech-heavy than it is now, but that’s not to say that robots, drones, and sensors will replace human intelligence, experience, and judgement. To tackle what the next 10 years in scouting and agronomy might look like, we go to Peter Johnson, RealAg’s resident agronomist, and Rob Saik,… Read More
John Deere is offering an in-cab solution to view AutoTrac automated guidance information for its 5R and 6M utility tractors. The addition of the corner post screen means farmers can purchase the hands-free steering component without the complexity of integrating full screens in the cab. “If you’re considering buying or leasing a new John Deere… Read More
Not all concepts exhibited at Agritechnica make it to commercialization. Instead of moving an individual piece of equipment forward, it’s usually a concept that clicks, is picked up by engineers, and moves forward. For Wes Lefroy, agricultural analyst with RaboResearch Food & Agribusiness — Australia and New Zealand, one of the most interesting aspects of… Read More
After identifying a need for aerial spraying services on large farms, an Ontario-based start-up has developed a fully-automated unmanned aerial vehicle for the Canadian market. “Typically most drones you see out there for aerial spraying are fairly small capacity… and for North American farms…it’s just not going to cut it,” says Meng Wei, CEO and… Read More
Ag Growth International Inc. is making a minority equity investment of US$15 million in Farmobile, Inc. Farmobile, headquartered in Leawood, Kansas, is an independent agriculture technology company, providing hardware and software services for the real-time collection, organization, analysis, and storage of farm data. The Farmobile device collects and streams real-time, geo-tagged agronomic and machine data… Read More
Temperature can tell you many things about an animal — if it’s beginning to fall ill, if it’s about to calve, or if it’s coming into heat. The technology to track temperature and movement of cattle comes in many forms, and a western Canadian company is offering a wireless communication rumen bolus that won’t get… Read More
What will agronomy look like five or ten years from now? Will drones and automation have replaced agronomists and field walks? There’s no denying that technology definitely plays a larger role in his job than it used to, says Shane Thomas, agronomist with Yara Canada. From field mapping software, to variable rate capabilities, NDVI readings,… Read More
AgJunction Inc. is bringing autosteer to smaller farms and older tractors that have difficultly accessing the advanced guidance precision agriculture application. At the National Farm Machinery Show at Louisville, Kentucky, earlier this month, AgJunction launched the Wheelman Pro and Wheelman Flex — simple, affordable autosteering systems powered by the Whirl app. In this interview, AgJunction chief marketing officer Jeff Morris notes… Read More
Many situations have two scenarios: one where a problem is looking for a technology, or the other where technology exists and is looking for a problem to solve. In the case of farming, often it’s the problem that comes first, but when it comes to autonomy, the technology has been leaps and bounds ahead of… Read More