Grainswest Tech 2021

Tech 2021 Grains West 6 Farmtechnologyadvances inthe long, slowblinkof aneye CONSIDERING FARMING HAS BEEN central to human existence for about 11,000 years, the technological leap from horse and plow to precision ag took place in the blink of an eye, relatively speaking. The arrival of adequate rural internet service is now playing out on a similar timescale. No annual technology issue of GrainsWest would be complete without a story about the latest in rural internet advancement: “Rural internet space race” (pg. 12). A credit to the powers that be, Canada has great people at work on solu- tions. The federal government has put its support behind the Telesat Lightspeed project, an array of 298 next-generation communication satellites. The project is squarely aimed at honouring the nation’s commitment to provide reliable digital connectivity to rural and remote regions and communities. The timeline? A rela- tive blink. Another technological leap now bound up in incremental progress is the use of intelligent technologies in agronomic software platforms. The goal is that arti- ficial intelligence and machine learning will one day produce an “easy button” able to click out an agronomic to-do list derived from vast amounts of agricultural data now being collected. It’s an ambi- tious goal and, again, the industry’s best minds are on it. “In search of the easy button” (pg. 32) investigates two Canadi- an initiatives at the cutting edge of this new frontier. In Alberta, the Olds College Smart Farm HyperLayer Data Concept, and in Manitoba, the Enterprise Machine Intelligence and Learning Initiative, known as EMILI, are at work on the mind-boggling math. Our examination of carbon-related farm technology likewise revolves around data. Foremost in the minds of farmers are the financial implications of the federal car- bon tax. Whether the farm fuel exemption bill, now stalled in the Senate, lives or dies in the event of an election call, the carbon equation will permanently figure into farm finances. “The big C” (pg. 34) and “Will biofuels benefit?” (pg. 40) are the first two instalments in our three-part examination of carbon issues in farming. Expect the final chapter to appear in the fall issue of GrainsWest . A farm tech development that has likewise been on slow boil for ages, the right-to-repair disagreement between farmers and implement manufacturers has fully migrated from its central U.S. battleground to Canada. In “Locked out of R2R” (pg. 22), we hash out the state of the issue with all sides. On the gear side of ag tech, we examine individual pieces of innovative equipment (“Gear exploration” pg. 18) and discuss the renovation and implementation of full grain-handling systems (“Bin yard build- outs” pg. 27). For many farmers, includ- ing Perry Rumpf, who walks us through his major grain handling upgrade, such overhauls are a piecemeal process carried out over multiple years. While experts recommend a thorough planning process precede overhauls and a one-year window be budgeted for big projects, Rumpf also suggests that doing it in one go saves a lot of long-term pain. Progress on the farm is indeed a relative term. Objectively, advancement in farm technology continues to proceed at a rock- et’s pace. It just may not seem like it when you need to act now. EDITOR’S MESSAGE Perry Rumpf says major bin yard buildouts are best done in one smooth motion as opposed to piecemeal over multiple years. Photo:Crew6Photography