Olds College president Stuart Cullum announces a new partnership with Saskatchewan Polytechnic. (Liam O’Connor photo)

Partnership gives Prairie ag students new 800-acre opportunity

Saskatchewan farmland bequest expanded Smart Farm eastward

Students from Saskatchewan Polytechnic and Olds College will be getting more opportunities to collaborate with each other on a large scale. The two institutions have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) which entails both schools working together for five years on various programs, notably Olds College’s Smart Farm operation. The partnership comes as a result […] Read more

(Onfokus/E+/Getty Images)

Automated ag skills program developed for Saskatchewan workforce

Protein supercluster, U of S supporting non-profit agency's program

Corrected, May 24 — A national skills-building organization focused on connecting employers with “untapped” labour markets sets its webcams this summer on the automated and digital ag sectors. Not-for-profit organization Palette Skills has launched a new eight-week online program for Saskatchewan residents focused on automation and digitization in agricultural production and processing. The enrolment deadline […] Read more


Might insects such as the cabbage seedpod weevil seen here end up in the crosshairs of the latest technology?

Drone tech’s next big target? Insect pest management

There are multiple potential future applications for drone tech in the works

Reading Time: 2 minutes Drones keep getting smaller and smaller, while their potential applications keep getting bigger and bigger. And now unmanned aircraft systems are taking on some of the world’s biggest small problems: insect pests. From crop-munching caterpillars to disease-transmitting mosquitoes, insects that threaten crops, ecosystems, and public health are increasingly being targeted with new pest-management strategies that […] Read more

A spray plane flies over a swarm of desert locusts at Lemasulani village in Kenya’s Samburu County on Jan. 17, 2020. (Photo: Reuters/Njeri Mwangi)

Drones to be tested against Africa’s locust swarms

U.N.'s FAO testing drones to detect, spray pests

Nairobi | Thomson Reuters Foundation — The United Nations is to test drones equipped with mapping sensors and atomizers to spray pesticides in parts of east Africa battling an invasion of desert locusts that are ravaging crops and exacerbating a hunger crisis. Hundreds of millions of the voracious insects have swept across Ethiopia, Somalia and […] Read more


Sure, drones draw a crowd, but like other farm tools today, they need to earn their keep by generating usable data that actually increases profits.

The farm data overload needs a fix

Ag tech event shows future of farming is data driven — but 'we're not there yet'

Reading Time: 5 minutes Jay Bruggencate has a bit of a bone to pick with the ag-tech industry. “We’ve invested hundreds of thousands of dollars into smart equipment that knows what it’s doing but can’t talk to each other,” said the Lacombe-area farmer at the recent AgSmart event at Olds College. “There’s so much data now available to us […] Read more

This photo, taken in the U.S., shows the type of view you get with virtually all drones; you could see someone in the yard but with no zoom capability, there's no peering into windows.

Don’t worry — drones aren’t built for spying

Despite what you may have heard, drones are too noisy, too tricky to manoeuvre, and too low resolution for spying

Reading Time: 3 minutes Markus Weber was out in the countryside taking aerial shots of some wind turbines when a gun-toting farmer drove up and accused him of spying with his drone. “It had occurred to me before the people might have privacy concerns, but that really drove home how little understanding there is of the capabilities of these […] Read more


Olds College president Stuart Cullum and former student Catalina Oitzl plant a soil and crop evaluation sensor 
to mark the official launch of the Olds College Smart Farm.

Students will find tomorrow’s technology today at ‘smart farm’

Operation will use tech ranging from drones 
and data analytics to multispectral imaging and AI

Reading Time: 3 minutes It’s not often you find yourself in the middle of a field with full Wi-Fi bars on your phone. But what else would you expect from a ‘smart farm?’ “This is the classroom coming alive,” said Jason Bradley, director of smart ag for Olds College. “The smart farm is a place where students can get […] Read more



(Video screengrab from DeveronUAS.com)

Climate Corp. to partner with Canadian drone data firm

In a bid to bring its eye-in-the-sky views of clients’ fields closer to Earth, Monsanto’s Climate Corp. has struck up a partnership with a Canadian drone data provider. Climate on Nov. 15 announced an “official” partnership with Toronto-based Deveron UAS, which operates a fleet of drones serving farm clients across North America, to deliver “advanced” […] Read more

Farmers Edge is partnering with Planet, the company with the largest fleet of Earth-imaging satellites, to bring farmers satellite images of fields several times a week. (Submitted image)

Farmers Edge expands satellite imagery offering

Farmers Edge says it’s making satellite imagery a practical and affordable agronomic tool for farmers through a new strategic partnership with Planet, the company with the largest fleet of Earth-imaging satellites. “We think this will be game-changing,” Farmers Edge president and CEO Wade Barnes said in an interview Oct. 3. “I think it’s going to […] Read more