In-person events last year (such as WheatStalk, top left) were rare, and limited in attendee numbers. But this summer, things will be much more like the old days including at AgSmart (bottom) and on Farming Smarter field tours (top right).

Having a field day: Everyone’s excited about return of in-person learning

Remember when you’d leave home to attend events and get together with experts, friends and peers?

Reading Time: 5 minutes After a year of too many Zoom meetings to count, ag organizations across the province are gearing up for a summer of in-field learning. “I’m so excited — there’s only so many online meetings that you can stay engaged with,” said Jamie Puchinger, assistant manager of Farming Smarter. “I cannot wait to get back out […] Read more

Drawing on big databases and using AI to ‘scrape’ the internet produces info that ranchers can use to make better decisions faster, says David Wishart, an expert in both computing and biological sciences. The U of A professor is helping to develop an app that will put that treasure trove of info on a producer’s computer or smartphone in an easy-to-use form.

Would you like a supercomputer with your cattle herd?

Big Data: Armchair Rancher will harness the power of big data and AI, and give Alberta producers ‘a leg up’

Reading Time: 3 minutes The ‘ancestry.com’ of the cattle industry is in development — and the app could give Alberta ranchers a leg up on the rest of the industry. Livestock Gentec, in collaboration with Alberta Innovates and the University of Alberta’s David Wishart, is creating an app that will help ranchers make better and faster decisions on the […] Read more


A 2021 Toyota Tundra Trail edition pickup truck. (Media.toyota.ca)

Sale of new fuel-powered cars, light trucks to be banned from 2035

Interim targets to be set for 2025, 2030

Ottawa | Reuters — Canada will ban the sale of fuel-burning new cars and light-duty trucks from 2035 in an effort to reach net-zero emissions across the country by 2050, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government said on Tuesday. Only zero-emissions cars and trucks can be sold from 2035, according to a statement, adding that a […] Read more



Opinion: A tale of three cheeseburgers and a vision of farming turned upside down

Opinion: A tale of three cheeseburgers and a vision of farming turned upside down

Increasingly, conventional agriculture is viewed as a model that’s due for replacement

Reading Time: 3 minutes Glacier FarmMedia – Farmers are no stranger to new technology and are usually quick to adopt developments that can increase production, or at the very least reduce the risk of losses. Most are well aware that the digital age is likely to bring transformative change to agriculture and food — even if they aren’t quite […] Read more

While the DOT autonomous platform (shown here at a recent seeding demonstration at the Olds College Smart Farm) is scaled for large farms, Monarch’s fully electric, driver-optional tractor (shown below) is designed for small operations, such as vineyards and orchards. But both represent important milestones in the evolution of farm equipment, say experts.

DOT earns passing grades at college, but not straight A’s

Fuel and labour are issues but the driverless implement shows plenty of potential in Olds College trials

Reading Time: 4 minutes Is the DOT ready for a full-time job on your operation? It might be too early to say, but researchers know the self-propelled, driverless tractor-minus-the-tractor finishes what it starts. “Every mission we started with DOT we were able to finish with DOT,” said Joy Agnew with Olds College. “There was never a catastrophic failure or […] Read more


Two Raven OMNiPower (formerly DOT) machines at work in the field. (RavenPrecision.com)

CNH to buy Raven Industries

Heavy equipment maker to pay US$2.1 billion for precision ag firm

The parent company behind Case IH, New Holland, Flexi-Coil and Steyr farm equipment is set to absorb a significant U.S. supplier of precision ag tech to its product lines and others. CNH Industrial on Monday announced a friendly all-cash agreement to buy up all shares in Sioux Falls, South Dakota-based Raven Industries for about US$2.1 […] Read more

A DOT (now OmniPower) autonomous unit at work on the Olds College Smart Farm. (Olds College video screengrab via YouTube)

College farms, GFM Discovery Farm to get smarter together

Two Alberta colleges sign on for new CAAIN-backed network

A pair of Alberta college farms and Glacier FarmMedia’s Saskatchewan farm are the first to plug into a national network of “smart farms” to improve the ag sector’s smart technology experience. The Olds College Smart Farm will lead the Pan-Canadian Smart Farm Network, which will also include Glacier FarmMedia Discovery Farm at Langham, Sask. and […] Read more


First-year veterinary students from the University of Calgary tour W.A. Ranches in 2019. A new program funded by the Canadian Cattlemen’s Foundation aims to bring more young people, including those with no exposure to agriculture and farming, to the working ranch.

W.A. Ranches hoping to reel in youth

U of Calgary’s working cattle ranch viewed as an ideal setting to showcase farming to young people

Reading Time: 3 minutes [UPDATED: June 22, 2021] Get them when they’re young. That’s the new strategy from the Canadian Cattlemen’s Foundation and the University of Calgary’s W.A. Ranches when it comes to attracting youth to the beef industry. And there’s no better way to get people interested in the beef industry than letting them get onto a ranch, […] Read more

Brazilian meatpacker JBS SA’s logo on a tower in Jundiai, northwest of Sao Paulo in southeastern Brazil, on June 1, 2017. (File photo: Reuters/Paulo Whitaker)

JBS says it paid US$11 million in bitcoin for ransom

Cyberattack disrupted plants in North America, Australia

Reuters — Meatpacker JBS USA paid a ransom equivalent to US$11 million (C$13.3 million) following a cyberattack that disrupted its North American and Australian operations, the company’s CEO said in a statement Wednesday. The subsidiary of Brazilian firm JBS halted cattle slaughtering at all of its U.S. plants and its Alberta beef plant for a […] Read more