The application of “big data” in farming makes sense in theory. More data enables better decision-making, but at the individual farm level it can be difficult to accumulate a large enough sample size for actionable agronomic analysis. Variety XYZ performed well on one field last year, so should you grow more of that variety next... Read More
Category: Technology
Cibus, a trait-based company that was founded in 2001, uses a “Rapid Trait Development System” to edit native genes without the introduction of foreign DNA. “The technology is applied in such a way that it’s a non-GM approach,” explained James Radtke, vice president of product development, at the Canola Discovery Forum in Canmore, this winter.... Read More
Individual nozzle control is becoming a reality, or at least an option, when it comes to applying pesticides with precision. Although they don’t have a major presence in Canada, Italian spraying technology manufacturer Arag has been selling its Seletron control system for several years. With individual nozzles that are automatically activated by a GPS-linked controller... Read More
At 2:03am, January 1st, 2015, Andrew Campbell tweeted a photo of a newborn calf on his family’s dairy farm in southwestern Ontario, kicking off a year of highs and lows posting farm photos on social media every day with the #farm365 hashtag. The project’s goal was to shed more light on the daily happenings on... Read More
North America’s first dairy milk robot was installed in 1999, less than 50 kilometres from Jack Rodenburg’s Woodstock, Ontario office. The long-time OMAFRA dairy specialist was sceptical at first, but he quickly realized that robot technology could revolutionize Canadian dairy farms. He says early models had their issues, but he quickly realized the potential for... Read More
The little rectangular digital displays we carry in our pockets could become obsolete in the not-too-distant future. Instead, the images and information that we squint to see on our phones and other physical screens might be projected into whatever setting we’re in. “Cinematic” or “augmented” reality is the terminology used to describe what companies are... Read More
The line between what's a traditional clunky tractor monitor and a user-friendly household tablet is disappearing, as evidenced by Trimble's latest version of its TMX-2050 display. On the market for two years, Trimble introduced several upgrades to the Android-based 12-inch touch screen unit earlier this year, explains TJ Schulte in the video below, filmed at... Read More
The Salford Group is expanding again. This time the Ontario-based tillage, seeding and fertilizer application company has purchased AerWay, well known to farmers for its soil aeration products. Salford Chief Executive Officer Geof Gray says the AerWay acquisition from SAF-HOLLAND Canada Ltd allows the company to “expand our niche tillage product line-up to offer more... Read More
Harvest is wrapped up and your yield monitor has accumulated another year of data. What should you do with it? In this episode of Corn School, AGRIS Co-operative agronomist Dale Cowan shares his thoughts on how you can use that yield data to guide soil sampling and create management zones in your fields. Many farmers... Read More
Imagine if robots could both identify and destroy weeds. Well, Bosch Deepfield Robotics is well on its way to making that dream a reality. The company, only one year old, has developed a four wheel multi-purpose robotic platform called BoniRob. It navigates along plant rows, running on batteries or connected to a generator, logging data,... Read More