The announcement this June of the launch of free trade negotiations between Canada and Indonesia has put a spotlight on the Asian market. For Canadian wheat farmers and exporters, the prospect of greater trade with Indonesia is worth close attention.
As the world moves toward net-zero emissions by 2050, the use of lower carbon and non-emitting fuels is expected to ramp up. The Clean Fuel Standard (CFS) provides significant opportunities for western Canadian farmers, as demand for several crops will increase with the growth of the biofuels market.
The next great leap in digital agriculture, the adoption of intelligent technologies is a complex work in progress. Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) are engineered to produce agronomic insights farmers can act upon from a vast flow of information that includes precision ag field data, weather, soil and yield data as well as drone and satellite imagery.
Farmers love simplicity. The impulse to eliminate complication drives them to innovate and create solutions to various farm problems. As farms have grown larger and advancements in plant genetics have increased yields, progressively greater crop hauls have made on-farm grain handling more complex.
Mid-harvest is the worst time for an equipment failure, but that is what happened to Hannah Konschuh as she combined wheat on her family’s farm east of Strathmore last year.
Robot vehicles and handheld crop sensors are not tomorrow’s dreams, they are agriculture’s here and now. And while such digital, high-tech innovations are available to farmers and crop researchers, agriculture is a physical pursuit that also benefits from advances in hardware engineering. The following new and improved gear represents a wide array of technological innovation on both digital and mechanical fronts.
The associate vice-president of applied research at Olds College, Joy Agnew co-leads the development of the school’s Smart Ag Ecosystem, a collection of programs and resources that includes its Smart Farm. She describes the school’s farm program as a “one-stop-shop innovation ecosystem.” While it is comprised of academic programs that provide students with practical, hands-on experience at the cutting edge of contemporary farming, the Smart Ag Ecosystem is also a vibrant research department. In recognition of her industry research and leadership of the college’s programming, Agnew was recently recognized as a Top 50 Innovator in Canadian Agriculture by Canadian Western Agribition.
Canada is known the world over as a satellite system innovator. Though the most-hyped low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite array now in deployment is the American SpaceX Starlink, Canada’s own Telesat Lightspeed will be launched with rural and remote internet users in mind. Lightspeed’s “fibre-like connectivity” will be licensed to broadband internet providers such as Bell, Rogers and Telus that would in turn supply service to farm and rural customers. These will be 4G LTE or 5G networks.
The Western Grain Elevator Association (WGEA) has called for change to the way Canadian ports are governed. The organization represents grain companies that move 95 per cent of Canadian grain exports. Aimed primarily at the Port of Vancouver, the WGEA claims all ports lack accountability and grain terminals do not have adequate means to dispute their actions.
A group of business development organizations has launched a mentorship program in Alberta to assist innovative agriculture technology and agri-food ventures. The Alberta Yield: Ag and Food Tech Advisory Program is intended to guide tech-based entrepreneurs as they establish their businesses, locate funding and expand.
