Count pastured chicken production as another frontier for automation and robotics in agriculture. With demand for pastured chicken rising rapidly, Manitoba farmer Daniel Badiou, through his startup Ukko Robotics, has started manufacturing automated mobile chicken coops. That's right. They're basically robots for raising chickens outside. "Every day it will move by itself, and it can... Read More
Category: Video
The organizers of FarmTech probably couldn't have asked for more timely circumstances to have the Prime Minister who brought NAFTA forward share a keynote address. Hours after Donald Trump said he wanted to expedite talks to replace or renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement, the Right Honourable Brian Mulroney took the stage in front... Read More
How come we've accepted technology in most aspects of growing crops, but we still use job boards and local papers to find hired help? Chances are, the person you're looking for doesn't live in the surrounding area, or you'd have hired them by now. Kristjan Hebert, farmer at Moosomin, Sask. and chair of Global Ag... Read More
Are you tired of planting wheat every year? What if you only had to plant the crop every four years? If those questions spark your interest, you won’t want to miss this episode of Real Agriculture's Wheat School featuring Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada research scientist Jamie Larsen. He’s working to develop perennial wheat that would... Read More
Corn plants do indeed yield less when they emerge one day after their neighbour. What's more, the yield gap widens even further for later emergers. That’s the bottom line on the 2016 Real Agriculture flag test research,conducted by resident agronomist Peter Johnson. In this episode of Corn School, Johnson tells co-host Bernard Tobin that, based... Read More
Innovation doesn't have to be high-tech or complicated, as Ron Gramlich of Bashaw, Alta., will attest. Tired of crawling up bins while working at a fertilizer facility, Gramlich created what he's marketing as the "BinKnocker." "It's simply a hockey puck on a rope, with stainless steel brackets fastened to the outside of the bin," he... Read More
The marriage of agronomy and data really can deliver better profits for growers wedded to precision planting technology. That was the message from the A-Team – Pride Seeds agronomist Aaron Stevanus and Veritas agronomist Aaron Breimer – earlier this month when they spoke to growers at the Southwest Agricultural Conference at the University of Guelph’s... Read More
Does it make sense to grow more bushels per acre of wheat? Only if it’s more profitable, says agronomist David Shortall. In this episode of Wheat School, Real Agriculture agronomist Peter Johnson talks with Shortall, a native of Ireland, who now works for Cargill in Ontario. They discuss the results of a recent case study... Read More
How have soybeans changed over the past century, and what can growers learn from this evolution? Purdue University agronomy professor Shaun Casteel has some answers. Speaking at the recent Ontario Certified Crop Advisor annual conference, Casteel shared insights from his research comparing varieties from 1923 to those available in 2011. In this episode of Real... Read More
Canola seed in Canada could soon come with a label describing the variety's blackleg disease resistance package, similar to the labeling system used in Australia. After around four years of discussions between seed companies, researchers, and growers, an agreement-in-principle has been reached on blackleg resistance labeling, says Clint Jurke, agronomy director with the Canola Council... Read More