Online ordering and virtual contracts commonplace, traceability and autonomous machines getting new push
Reading Time: 5 minutes Like it or not, the farm of the future will run on technology — and that future has become ever closer because of COVID-19. “It’s been a pretty big disruption for a lot of businesses,” said Wes Anderson, senior fertility specialist at CropPro Consulting. “It has forced a lot of our clients to use technology […] Read more
Pandemic speeding up adoption of technology
Artificial intelligence is everywhere, and it’s just getting started
The invisible tracking of our buying habits should challenge us so we are not defined by a database
Reading Time: 3 minutes I have been thinking about artificial intelligence (AI) and the impact it has on consumerism. AI is used to track your buying habits and predetermine your buying needs. It is also the robotics that clean fields or make cars, do complex surgery or make a digital diagnosis. It is the smart fridge that knows what […] Read more
Pandemic pushes rural internet speeds to the breaking point
Notoriously slow already, rural internet has struggled with increased demand during the pandemic — and that isn’t likely to change any time soon
Reading Time: 6 minutes The internet on Monika Benoit’s northern Alberta farm was bad enough before the pandemic. Now it’s almost “non-existent.” “We sigh a lot,” said Benoit, who farms with husband Mike near High Prairie. “Even when there’s not a pandemic, we have internet issues. But with the isolation and social distancing protocols we’re supposed to be following, […] Read more
Spornado causes a whirlwind of new research
There’s an affordable way to detect fusarium or sclerotinia spores — but it’s not one-and-done technology
Reading Time: 5 minutes A device that helps alert growers to the presence of airborne pathogens has been popping up in some Alberta cereal and canola fields in the last couple of years. But while Spornado — and in-crop spore detection in general — is promoted as a tool to take the guesswork out of fungicide application decisions, this […] Read more
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
Ag sector growth will take investments in skills, tech now: RBC
One of Canada’s big six banks bets the agriculture sector’s gross domestic product could rise by nearly 60 per cent over the next decade if it were to have enough people, capital and access to new technology where ag lives. A report released by RBC on Tuesday titled “Farmer 4.0” estimates Canadian ag GDP could […] Read more
Feds back $108-million push to automate farming
A consortium of groups, including three from Alberta, want to usher in a new era of advanced ag technology
Reading Time: 4 minutes It may not seem a priority given the weather and trade challenges farmers are facing — but now is the time to launch a new era of smart farms, AI, and robotics, say backers of a new $108-million tech fund. Ottawa is giving $49.5 million to the Canadian Agri-Food Automation and Intelligence Network (CAAIN), and […] Read more
Event offers chance to get up close to leading-edge ag tech
Olds College offering hands-on demos and displays of the ‘latest and greatest’ in advanced technology
Reading Time: 3 minutes Ag technology is advancing faster than ever before — but farmers still aren’t always sure how to make these innovations work on their own operations. “Technology is such a huge component of agriculture going into the future. It’s making agriculture more sustainable, more productive and more profitable,” said Joy Agnew, director of applied research at […] Read more
Alberta producer creates an ‘Expedia for grain prices’
Farmbucks compares grain prices on offer from buyers in Western Canada
Reading Time: 2 minutes Lynn Dargis was fed up trying to compare grain prices last winter. A busy farmer with a 4,400-acre grain operation, 2,000-head feedlot, and three small children, Dargis didn’t always have time to log into each grain buyer’s website to find the best prices. But she also knew she couldn’t afford to leave money on the […] Read more
The brave new world of blockchain
Digital traceability has suddenly been thrust into the food sector
Reading Time: 5 minutes If there was ever any doubt that agriculture would someday run headlong into the blockchain space, it was quashed on Sept. 24. That was the day Walmart announced its leafy green suppliers would be required (in a year’s time) to participate in a blockchain-driven system providing full-chain traceability of their produce. In recent years, Bitcoin […] Read more
Cyber-Savvy Farmer
