A medical imaging technology developed at the University of Manitoba for breast cancer detection has been adapted for a new application: monitoring grain in storage. The GrainViz system uses a series of electromagnetic antennas mounted around the inside of a grain bin, which generate a real-time 3D image of the contents of the bin. “You… Read More
Category: Technology
Drones are likely packed away for winter, but now is the time to take them out to perform battery maintenance. The chemistry inside lithium polymer (LiPo) batteries used to power most drones breaks down when kept at full or low charge levels for extended periods of time, reducing battery life and capacity. A battery that… Read More
Ontario will set a new corn yield record in 2017 with the crop expected to hit an average of 180 bu/ac or better. Where is all that yield coming from? Corn physiologist Dr. Thijs Tollenaar has poured over the data and identified three key factors driving corn yield improvement. A long-time University of Guelph professor… Read More
Recent advances in the availability and quality of satellite imagery is providing powerful in-season management insights for corn growers. Many growers feel it’s no longer necessary to fly their own drone to capture aerial images of their fields. They can simply rely on a growing number of agronomic services to scout their crop using drone… Read More
Sensors and internet cloud technology — a combination sometimes described as the “Internet of Things” — are increasingly being used by farmers to maximize the quality and food safety of their production. The reduced cost of sensors and the ability to connect them to the internet (and users’ smartphones) is enabling new uses for this technology,… Read More
Fendt sees a future where 12 small robots the size of drink coolers will replace a tractor and eight-row planter for planting corn. After completing the MARS (Mobile Agricultural Robot Swarms) project with Ulm University of Applied Sciences and funding from the European Union, Fendt and parent company AGCO have decided to take the research… Read More
Where can Canadians find everything they need to know about farming all wrapped into a neat 60-page package? It’s all in The Real Dirt on Farming. Farm & Food Care Ontario officially unveiled the newest version of its flagship public outreach publication last month. This new Real Dirt is the fourth edition since the project’s inception in… Read More
It can be a little disconcerting to see any unrecognized vehicle on your property, especially with regular reports of thefts from rural properties. People are looking beyond their roads and approaches, to the skies, where unknown, low-flying unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), or drones, can also cause apprehension. So what do we do if we see… Read More
Before we begin to explain how blockchain may be a game changer for agricultural marketing let’s answer that question that is likely at the top of your mind. “What the the heck is blockchain?” According to the Harvard Business Review, it is “an open, distributed ledger that can record transactions between two parties efficiently and… Read More
The Southwest Agricultural Conference (SWAC) will mark its 25th anniversary on January 3rd, when the two-day conference unofficially kicks off Ontario’s winter farm meeting season. In Part Two of our video series looking back at a quarter century of SWAC, we hear from a host of conference organizers and participants who share their favourite memories of… Read More
From automated tractors to precision sprayers that spray only weeds, new technology is creating a buzz in the farming community. But let’s not forget about satellite technology, which is now poised to make a tremendous impact on crop production. That’s the message Patrick Crampton from Farmers Edge shared during a technology discussion panel at the recent… Read More
There are 3.5 million professional truck drivers in the United States and somewhere around 300,000 in Canada. What does their future hold with recent developments in autonomous or robotic technology? We’ve talked about the autonomous semi truck Otto delivering beer and appliances in the past. Last week, we saw Tesla unveil its electric semi truck… Read More
For some, technology like autonomous tractors and unmanned aerial vehicles offer great interest; for others, the quick advancements in robotics and data are overwhelming and intimidating. Will we soon see job losses? Will human presence on farms be made obsolete? Not at all, says Christine Su, co-founder and CEO of PastureMap, a company that makes… Read More
If you were to see a New Holland tractor equipped with NHDrive, you might think it looks fairly typical of the machines of today. But beyond its stylish blue and silver exterior is a fully autonomous, unmanned vehicle. NHDrive was developed by CNH Industrial in collaboration with Utah-based Autonomous Solutions Incorporated. It allows tractors to… Read More
The Southwest Agricultural Conference (SWAC) will mark its 25th anniversary on January 3rd, when the two-day conference unofficially kicks off Ontario’s winter farm meeting season. Over the past quarter century, SWAC, hosted by the University of Guelph’s Ridgetown campus, has become one of the leading farm conferences in North America. How did it start? How… Read More