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Tag Archives Precision agriculture

Crop management systems often have a data fixer as part of their software.
Crops

What if I don’t have the right data?

How to manage – and prevent – crop data gaps

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Reading Time: 4 minutes So you forgot to charge the iPad. Or perhaps the power switch never drew your attention.  Maybe you’re stuck with older, computer-free equipment. Either way, you’re at the end of the field and the data you could have otherwise used (or hoped to gather) isn’t available.  What do you do? Can you still make decisions […] Read more
OneSoil was co-founded in Belarus six years ago by Sasha Yakovlev.
Machinery, News

Free satellite images available from OneSoil

The company provides soil management apps to help encourage farmers

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Reading Time: 3 minutes One contiguous atmosphere blankets Earth. We all breathe that same air. We all walk on the same band of soil. We all grow food on the same band of soil. We have a lot in common, all of us who live on planet Earth.  That’s why OneSoil is an appropriate name for a new satellite […] Read more
Clinton Monchuk at his farm in Saskatchewan.
Crops, Machinery

Farmers analyze tech returns on investment

For some it saves time, for others it reduces variability

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Reading Time: 5 minutes Can precision technology pay? Farmers participating in a panel discussion at this year’s Virtual Precision Agriculture Conference say yes. However, strategies differ. Why it matters: Not all agriculture technology works for all farmers, and the decision-making process can be unique to each farm. Clinton Monchuk of Monchuk Farms near Lanigan, Sask., and executive director of […] Read more
Canadian dairy technology from EIO Diagnostics allows for testing for mastitis before it shows up as increased cell counts.
Livestock

Canadian start-ups featured at Ag Innovation Showcase

The American event showcased Canadian companies with dairy, lighting, grain sampling and soil sensing products

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Reading Time: 3 minutes A number of Canadian agriculture technology start-up companies were in the spotlight at the recent Ag Innovation Showcase. The Canadian government and Protein Industries Canada, one of the country’s five superclusters, were key sponsors of the event again this year. Why it matters: Technology is a key driver of innovation in the agri-food sector, but […] Read more
Farm income is the leading barrier to agriculture technology adoption for farmers, say 53 per cent of Ontario agriculture retailers.
Machinery, News

Cost puts brakes on farm technology adoption

Companies that want to sell to farmers have to demonstrate value of technology

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Reading Time: 3 minutes Glacier FarmMedia – Most farmers in southern Ontario grow soybeans and corn. Meanwhile, the typical farmer in Saskatchewan produces canola, wheat, barley and probably a pulse crop. Yet the two share similar concerns about adopting agriculture technology. Why it matters: Precision tools are becoming increasingly important to efficient, sustainable farming, yet many producers remain concerned […] Read more
The new tool in Climate FieldView can create scripts for variable application of crop protection products.
Crops

New tool allows scripting of crop protection products

The Climate FieldView tool creates special management zones in fields

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Reading Time: 3 minutes Climate FieldView has released a new manual crop protection prescription that allows farmers to create variable-rate scripts for any zone in their field. The new feature works for fungicides, herbicides, insecticides and growth regulators to help growers create special management zones within each field, and assign product rates to each region while following label directions. […] Read more
Machinery, News

Drone program improves agronomic precision

Drones becoming widespread tool for crop health assessment

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Reading Time: 3 minutes A new drone initiative at Corteva Agriscience, called Drone Deploy, helps growers locate problem areas in-field early on to assist in maximizing yields. Why it matters: New technologies have to prove themselves and software is making drones more useful each year. Corteva Flight is the first of several software options accessible by Pioneer customers. Dave […] Read more
Crops, Machinery

Brandt buys GeoShack’s Ontario business

Deal makes equipment firm the exclusive Topcon dealer for Canada

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Reading Time: 2 minutes Farm, forestry and construction equipment maker Brandt is about to buy itself a lock on the market for Topcon GPS equipment in Canada. The Regina-based Brandt Group announced Wednesday it has reached a deal to buy the assets of GeoShack Canada Co. and the Canadian assets of Inteq Distributors, both owned by Dallas-based Ultara Holdings. […] Read more
Producers can use a variable rate program to reduce inputs in poorperforming areas.
Crops, News

Precision ag helps farmers find their best acres

Farming all the acres the same can result in potentially failing the better ones and over-investing in the worst

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Reading Time: 4 minutes Glacier FarmMedia – Implementing precision agriculture strategies doesn’t have to be overwhelming. “Don’t not do something because it’s not perfect because we’re never going to get perfect,” said Terry Aberhart, owner of Sure Growth Technologies. When Aberhart started training and educating people through his independent agronomy consulting company, he strived to teach a comprehensive understanding […] Read more
Variable-rate application is more prominent in Ontario than Western Canada due to more use of custom operators in Ontario.
Crops

Economics around variable-rate fertilizer challenging

The reasons variable-rate application has had lower adoption is a lesson for new ag technologies

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Reading Time: 3 minutes There are good financial reasons that variable-rate application of nutrients hasn’t taken off like automated guidance. Guidance systems for farm equipment ensure complete coverage without overlap, University of Guelph Professor Alfons Weersink told the 2020 FarmSmart Conference recently at the university. That means savings of $8 per acre for planting. That’s enough to make it […] Read more

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