Dirk Vandenhirtz, CEO and founder, left, and Darrell Bailey, North American business development lead with Crop.zone.

VIDEO: Liquid helps electric weed killing machine

Crop.zone has partnered with John Deere on a new, wider machine for in-crop weed control

A German company tested its electric desiccation system on Canadian farms this year as it works to bring weed control using electricity to large-scale farms. Crop.zone is unique in that it combines an application of liquid to the plant at the front of the tractor and an electric shock at the back, which helps with […] Read more

Winners of the Canada’s Outdoor Farm Show Innovation competition included (LtoR) Glen Yates and Colin Yates of VETSon, Matt Leinen of Ag Leader Technology, Mathieu Paneuf of Agrilog, Vanessa Camacho of Clean Works, and Greg Patterson and Rob Field of A&L Laboratories.

Vet app, grain data tech, biostimulant among innovation winners

Exhibitors with innovative products were recognized last month during Canada’s Outdoor Farm Show. The Innovation Program offers awards to businesses in five categories: agronomics, business solutions, environmental sustainability, equipment and livestock. The 2023 winners were announced Sept. 11 before the Sept. 12-14 show began at Discovery Farm Woodstock. Why it matters: The program recognizes new […] Read more

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Editorial: Revenge of the nerds

I still vividly remember the day my dad walked in the kitchen door carrying an enormous cardboard box, with a smile nearly as wide as the box itself. Inside was our family’s first VCR, a very exciting day indeed. For my Baby Boomer parents, the VCR was a huge leap in technology. I was too […] Read more

Christoph Siebert

German farmers use innovation to help meet sustainability targets

The European Union has set some tough targets in its Farm to Fork strategy

Sustainable production is the latest focus in agriculture as countries around the world look for ways to deal with climate change. The European Union’s Farm to Fork strategy, for example, spells out ambitious goals for sustainable food production. Among its targets by 2030 are reducing chemical pesticide and antimicrobial use by 50 per cent and […] Read more


A file photo of a semiconductor.

Computer chips made in Taiwan are a vital farm input

It sounds like the premise of a cheap novelette: put 90 per cent of the world’s most strategic industry in a tiny place caught between two superpowers and push those powers toward confrontation and war. It seems far-fetched until you consider that this is a real situation in the semiconductor industry based in Taiwan. Almost […] Read more

Available to growers in 2014, AAC Brandon hard spring wheat has been shown to be productive in a variety of weather conditions. Development started on the variety in 2003.

Opinion: Innovation is hard, hype is easy

There is no shortage of companies and researchers that claim to have a silver bullet to solve agricultural issues, but if truly helpful, it takes years before technologies are in the hands of farmers

Glacier FarmMedia – In November, the John Innes Centre announced it had discovered a gene that could lead to drought resistant wheat. The centre is a well-known institution in Norwich, United Kingdom, specializing in plant science and crop genetics, so the new gene and its potential for improving wheat production will garner interest. And maybe […] Read more

A FuelPositive containerized production system. The system combines hydrogen produced from water through electrolysis and nitrogen extracted from the air to produce anhydrous ammonia that can be stored on-farm.

Ontario technology lets farmers produce their own inputs

Waterloo-based company producing green ammonia using water, air and electricity

Clean, economical, and practical – those are the foundational building blocks of a technology that will let farmers produce their own inputs on the farm.  Using water, air and electricity, a containerized production system by Waterloo-based FuelPositive will produce ammonia for a variety of uses including agricultural fertilizer or fuel for grain drying and internal […] Read more


The Soiltech Wireless sensor can be placed on the ground to act as a localized weather station by measuring temperature and humidity. It can also be buried to monitor moisture and temperature.

Soil tech firms allow sensors to work together

Ceres Imaging and Soiltech Wireless say the recent agreement allows their technology to validate each other in the field

Glacier FarmMedia – Ceres Imaging and Soiltech Wireless have an agreement that enables the two systems to work together. Soiltech Wireless offers a cellular-based wireless sensor and Ceres Imaging uses in-field sensors, advanced analytics and high-resolution imagery to provide a macro-level look at crops. Ehsan Soltan of Soiltech Wireless said the company’s wireless sensor monitors […] Read more

At AgriTech North's vertical farming facility in Dryden, the light in the grow room is pink when the plants are in their grow cycle, and off during the day when they are in their sleep cycle.

Improving food security in northern Ontario

Finalists named for Northern Ontario Innovation Challenge

Seven agri-food entrepreneurs from across northern Ontario have been chosen as finalists in the Northern Ontario Innovation Challenge run by Bioenterprise Canada, a national accelerator known as Canada’s food and agri-tech engine. The seven agri-businesses will showcase their innovations at a public demonstration day in September with short pitch presentations to a panel of judges […] Read more