Reading Time: 2 minutes The growing number of new crop automation products coming to market are finding their first uses in high-value crops, like vegetables or grapes. Several farm robots featured at the recent AgRobotics and Automation event hosted by the RH Accelerator focused on higher-value crops instead of corn, soybeans or wheat. The interest is creating new players […] Read more
Tag Archives technology
Farm automation likely adopted in high-value crops first
Ontario crop service company creates agriculture robotic division
Solar-powered trap hunts what bugs crops
Insects pose for mugshots and get identified in a digital lineup before the scouting call gets made to the farmer
Reading Time: 3 minutes Glacier FarmMedia – Metos Canada offers remote monitoring of crop pests with a lineup of IOT (internet of things)-based devices, called iScout. Why it matters: Crop monitoring tools can help farmers protect fields and avoid yield-damaging pest incursions. The devices are built by Austrian technology firm Pessl Instruments, which sells a roster of wireless sensors […] Read more
What’s new in planter technology
Manufacturers look to better precision, compaction reduction – and speed
Reading Time: 3 minutes In the hunt for higher yields, equipment manufacturers are combining more digital tech with in-field iron to alleviate a variety of planting challenges – from compaction to uneven planting depth. Addressing localized compaction For Shawn Livingston, Eastern Canada regional manager for Precision Planting Inc., the impact of localized compaction on crop root development has been […] Read more
How viable is mechanical pollination?
Pollen collection, not just distribution, is a major hurdle for those trying to help insects
Reading Time: 4 minutes An Israeli start-up company has developed a mechanical pollination system that it says will help ensure the continued production of nutritious food. There is concern about the decline of pollinators and its effects on food production. Pollinators play a critical role in moving pollen from male to female parts of the plant that result in […] Read more
Satellites to change rural internet delivery
Low earth satellites help solve latency issues of earlier satellites
Reading Time: 2 minutes 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
What if I don’t have the right data?
How to manage – and prevent – crop data gaps
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
Capture and removal of phosphorus pitched
Nano-tech could revolutionize and monetize the removal of dissolved phosphorus
Reading Time: 3 minutes Can a nanotech product be the solution to a challenge as daunting as removing phosphorus (P) from the watershed? Ed Weinberg is optimistic it can. He’s hoping the Chippewa First Nation pilot-scale demonstration of nanotechnology mitigating dissolved P in surface runoff and tile drainage (edge of field) will provide the necessary data to spark a […] Read more
Quebec leads the way in artificial intelligence
Companies there are applying the concept to livestock production
Reading Time: 3 minutes Labour challenges and increased demands for automation and traceability throughout the supply chain are driving implementation of technologies that automate various farming tasks and lessen the reliance on a human workforce. Artificial intelligence can help make those robots even smarter and automate tasks — like harvesting produce for example — that previously could only be […] Read more
Company uses AI to guide combines
Cognitive Agro Pilot relies more on sensing objects in the field instead of GPS to guide it
Reading Time: 3 minutes Artificial intelligence systems introduced into combine threshing systems enable the machines to automatically self-adjust to minimize losses and improve grain quality without operator input. Cognitive Agro Pilot’s system differs from the others. Instead of relying on a satellite signal, the system uses a camera to read the terrain ahead and its AI programming decides how […] Read more
A fertilizer revolution is on the horizon
IBM says it will produce a breakthrough within five years that will greatly lower the energy needed to make nitrogen
Reading Time: 4 minutes As fledgling technology goes, quantum computing sounds as science fiction as it gets. But if IBM fulfills a bold promise it made in September, crop producers will see the fruits of this technology within five years. By using quantum computing and artificial intelligence to speed up the process, IBM researchers are confident they can revolutionize […] Read more
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