Saskatchewan-based cartographer Alex McPhee makes western Canadian maps with a high level of detail and accuracy. Despite his growing reputation, potential customers occasionally try to spot omissions.

An overarching goal of the grain industry is to maximize production and processing efficiency. However, Canada’s post-harvest system is not perfect. Post-harvest losses in Canada are said to be north of $1 billion annually. 

Farmers need to know if new agricultural systems and practices are worth the investment. Canada’s smart farms have stepped up to provide answers. These crop, livestock and horticulture facilities study the use of technologies, data and digital tools as well as advanced practices and philosophies to increase overall productivity, profitability and sustainability. “Smart farms within the Smart Farm Network follow this definition but also have the added mandate or goal of sharing information with all stakeholders,” said Joy Agnew, vice-president of research at Olds College.

Ducks Unlimited Canada (DUC) has deployed sensor-equipped towers to a pair of agricultural properties in Manitoba. The project’s lead scientist, Pascal Badiou refers to these advanced air monitoring tools as “Star Trek technology.”

Cellular agriculture is poised to become a growth industry. The term refers to the engineering of plant or animal cells to create a food product or ingredient. The technology has been used for decades to produce food enzymes and proteins. For example, since the 1990s, 80 per cent of the rennet used in cheese making worldwide is produced by protein fermentation rather than traditionally sourced from calves’ stomachs. Cellular agriculture is also known for its potential to commercially produce animal proteins that closely mimic the meat of farmed animals.

Too often, the testing and development of ag products and systems is carried out in bite-sized plots, which leaves farmers to imagine how the results can be put into practice at their farm. The brainchild of Enterprise Machine Intelligence and Learning Initiative (EMILI) and Farm Credit Canada (FCC), Innovation Farms Powered by AgExpert provides clarity.

In mid-2024, Vancouver-based EarthDaily Analytics is set to launch EarthDaily Constellation, the world’s first superspectral Earth observation satellite array. The 10-satellite grouping will deliver imagery of every agricultural acre on the planet. Dave Gebhardt said it will give farmers and agribusinesses the most powerful “change detection tool” on the planet. Gebhardt is general manager of the EarthDaily agriculture division, EarthDaily Agro, headquartered in Maple Grove, MN. “The agriculture industry needs more and better information. Our constellation will deliver a whole new level of accuracy.”

Big Bud 747 is a giant, 1,100-horsepower tractor built by the Northern Manufacturing Company in Havre, Montana, in 1977. The tractor’s massive Canadian connection is that is was outfitted with eight-foot-tall tires manufactured by the now-defunct United Tire of Ontario.

To protect the midge tolerance gene and ensure it continues to do its job, tolerant wheat must be sown as a varietal blend, 10 per cent of which is susceptible to midge. This limited sacrifice to the insect ensures it does not evolve countermeasures. Breeding these all-but-identical pairings is a tricky task, but they are needed now more than ever.

Farmers tend to roll their eyes at mention of the word “sustainability.” It’s a topic the whole world wants to address lately, but farmers generally feel they’ve been left out of the discussion. In a July report by the Canadian Agri-Food Policy Institute (CAPI), farmers take the lead in a rethink and reset of the ag sustainability agenda. GrainsWest spoke with CAPI managing director Tyler McCaan about the guidance provided by the 720 Canadian farmers who contributed to Navigating the Path to Sustainable Agriculture.