Trevor Scherman and partner Megan Madden are making it easy for farmers to connect during harvest time to get the best settings for their combines. It’s an idea that Scherman says arose from the same philosophy as the ScherGain Solutions System he previously co-founded with his father. That system involves the use of a drop […] Read more
Tag Archives internet
At Ag in Motion: Combine settings app makes the world your neighbour
'Oh, have you tried this concave?'
Hay-starved Prairies fertile ground for online scammers
At least $64,000 lost in Alberta alone, RCMP says
High demand, scarce supplies and rising prices for hay and other feeds due to this summer’s drought on the Prairies have made a market for online scammers, RCMP warn. The urgency driving such transactions may cause ranchers, farmers and farm workers to make purchases “without taking time to properly verify or research production sources,” Alberta […] Read more
Satellites to change rural internet delivery
Low earth satellites help solve latency issues of earlier satellites
Elon Musk’s Starlink low Earth orbit (LEO) network has been awarded US$885 million over 10 years to build rural internet access in the United States. This amounts to an almost billion-dollar vote of confidence in a service that is at the preliminary consumer testing stage. Why it matters: Better quality internet will help drive more […] Read more
Province ups investment in broadband and cellular service
An additional $680 million will be put into rural/northern digital infrastructure
The province is investing $1 billion to remove “Can you hear me now?” from the lexicon of rural and Northern Ontario residents. As part of the Ontario government’s 2020 budget released Nov. 5, an additional $680 million over six yeas was added to the existing $315 million in Up to Speed: Ontario’s Broadband and Cellular […] Read more
Federal irrigation pledge seen flowing mainly to Prairies
Infrastructure plan also includes promised broadband support
Prairie provinces will receive the bulk of Ottawa’s $1.5 billion commitment to support irrigation projects, according to federal Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Thursday launched a three-year, $10 billion infrastructure plan aimed at five different sectors, including agriculture. The $1.5 billion is expected to result in 700,000 acres of irrigated land. […] Read more
Throne speech commits to rural broadband improvement
Rural health care, water management also on deck
The federal minority Liberal government is promising job creation, better rural internet access and a commitment to combating climate change in its newly revealed legislative plans. In an ambitious throne speech delivered Wednesday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s party committed itself to implementing universal child care and extending or enhancing many of the economic measures put […] Read more
Pandemic may strain rural community resources, panel warns
Enthusiasm for telecommuting could later benefit rural areas, if 'digital divide' can be bridged
The COVID-19 pandemic, and Canada’s response to it, have highlighted how rural communities need different strategies than their urban counterparts to provide social services on which the public relies. The Arrell Food Institute at the University of Guelph hosted a virtual panel in May to discuss COVID-19’s social impacts, in which researchers from a variety […] Read more
NYC equity firm to buy Xplornet
New investment expected to speed up rural broadband rollouts
A Manhattan private equity firm deep in “middle-market infrastructure” has committed to buy, and help improve service from, Canada’s single biggest rural broadband provider. New Brunswick-based, privately held Xplornet Communications announced Thursday it has signed a deal to sell majority control itself to Stonepeak Infrastructure Partners. The two companies’ announcement didn’t put a dollar figure […] Read more
Xplornet buys Ontario’s Silo Wireless
Deal includes rural wireless, fibre services
Canada’s biggest rural broadband company has expanded its space in the southwestern Ontario market by buying internet and fibre-to-home provider Silo Wireless. New Brunswick-based Xplornet Communications, whose client list already includes over a million rural customers in all provinces, announced it has closed its deal to buy Silo for an undisclosed sum. The deal gives […] Read more
Federal minister for rural affairs among Tory pledges
The federal Conservatives’ pre-election pledges for Canada’s rural communities include a plan to appoint a federal minister for rural affairs. Tory leader Andrew Scheer included that promise Sept. 7 in announcing a list of “specific measures he will take as prime minister to help rural communities across the country,” in the lead-up to a federal […] Read more
Cyber-Savvy Farmer
