Massive resources are poured into agricultural research. It’s the goal of industry organizations to present this rich body of fresh agronomic information alongside established knowledge and make it easy to understand for farmers and agronomists. This communication process is commonly referred to as “extension.”

Farm life has always been shaped by the technology of the day. School tour groups at the South Peace Centennial Museum and Interpretive Centre work with tools that defined pioneer life. They come to appreciate homesteader chores as they apply a hefty flat iron to wrinkled shirts, scour wooden floors with a scrub brush, make rope from baler twine and cut firewood with a bucksaw.

Kris Nichols, principal scientist and research director of MyLand, calls microalgae “eco-engineers” that improve soil health and benefit crops. “Our perspective on algae, oftentimes, is that they’re aquatic organisms and they’re going to be where you have a lot of water,” said Nichols. “But they are very key in very dry systems to help manage water and nutrient relationships.”

With the use of artificial intelligence and optical sensing, Regina-based Precision AI aims to enlist drones in crop spraying to reduce herbicide use and field compaction.

Over the last decade, grain drying has become more common on farms across the Prairies, but especially so in Alberta. It has been particularly necessary to maintain optimal quality in wet years such as 2018. That year, farmers spent an estimated $35 to $45 million on grain drying. However, little data has been compiled on efficiency in grain drying practices, until now. 

AFSC has taken its business to higher heights, about 120 metres to be exact. The insurance provider has just wrapped the second year of a drone imagery test program to better assess animal damage in crops and provide a more accurate picture of what happens in the middle of a field.

Craft brewers produce premium beer on a small but spirited scale, though often can’t maintain in-house laboratories to manage quality control. Calgary’s Raft Brew Labs, comprised of a small team of chemists and microbiologists, provides the scientific analysis brewers need to ensure their end-products are safe and consistent.

Agriculture produces an estimated 10 per cent of the national greenhouse gas (GHG) emission total, but experts believe it can potentially account for 26 per cent of Canada’s overall reduction target for the federal 2030 Emissions Reduction Plan. Thus, the federal government’s plan to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050 relies on agriculture as a central component of GHG emissions reduction. Given the traction this and other such frameworks have received across the globe, farmers may be faced with a choice: write the playbook as they like, or risk having rules imposed upon them.

Each fall, once harvest is complete, Alberta Agriculture, Forestry and Rural Economic Development collects soil samples for wheat midge and does stem counts for wheat stem sawfly.

The goal of AYSA is to encourage this passion and develop communication, leadership and networking skills in youth. Given a choice between seven pressing agricultural issues, these future farm ambassadors had clearly done their research and impressed the judges with their insights.