It’s too early to call time of death on any wheat crop just yet…mostly. The trouble is that wheat, like all crops, is rather valuable right now, and if there’s crop forwarded contracted, it’s important to make sure there’s enough to deliver. But how do you make the call on what’s enough of a crop… Read More
Today, farm robots come in all shapes and sizes, but they’re really not much different than a farm tractor, says Chuck Baresich, robot expert and general manager for Haggerty Creek Ltd. Last summer, Baresich joined OMAFRA crop innovation specialist Ian McDonald on the Ontario Diagnostic Days video series talk about the evolution of robot technology and where it fits… Read More
The practice of variable rate seeding for corn continues to increase as growers attempt to match seeding rates and hybrid characteristics to the varying yield potential across their fields. With the growth of precision agriculture, every year more growers adopt variable rate seeding strategies but are they effectively evaluating and fine-tuning this strategy on their… Read More
Ontario-based digital agriculture service provider Deveron Corp. has acquired Farm Dog, a farm data company based in California that helps farmers and agronomists organize and leverage field information. Founded by Liron Brish in 2015 as an in-field scouting app, Farm Dog has more than 4,000 clients representing over 2 million acres, according to a news… Read More
Need a certain wrench in the middle of a field? Call a drone. Lost a shear pin? Call a drone. Finished your lunch in the cab and it’s only 10 am? Call a drone. Or more likely, just open the app or your phone’s virtual assistant and order that second lunch. Okay, it may be… 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
A team of about 400 Corteva Agrisciences agronomists across North America are now well-equipped with a fleet of drones, developed with DJI, and proprietary Corteva Flight software. The technology is taking off in eastern Canada and will soon be available in the west. Bernard Tobin was recently joined by Chris Olbach, Ontario agronomist with Corteva… 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
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
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
RealAgriculture’s coverage of Agritechnica 2019 is made possible by Brevant seeds. The latest technology, locally tested. Brevant seeds. Seed. Yield. Easy. Ever since drones starting gaining more traction on farms, there have been farmers talking about whether one day drones would fill the sky, spraying crops. Think about it: no soil compaction or mechanical crop damage during… 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
With precision agriculture becoming less of an idea and more of a reality for farmers, one Canadian company has jumped on board with drone technology to help farmers when they scout. Melissa Silvernagle, precision agronomy technical lead with AgraCity Crop and Nutrition says she was amazed by the way scouting is changing with the integration… Read More
Besides just the sheer work of moving through crops on foot (and, in some cases, trying not to get lost in them), scouting can prove difficult in just deciding what path to walk. Drone technology is changing that. According to Adrian Moens of AJM Seeds, using drones to map a field prior to scouting gives… Read More
Transport Canada has announced new rules for “remotely piloted aircraft systems,” commonly known as drones or UAVs. Whether it’s for work or pleasure, all people flying drones that weigh between 250 grams to 25 kilograms will have to adhere to the rules that come into effect June 1, 2019. The new rules have two main… Read More
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