Grainswest - Tech 2022

Tech 2022 grainswest.com 35 W ith the help of a $10.8 million grant from the federal government’s Digital Technology Supercluster, a consortium of Canadian companies and one university intends to create the world’s first interactive planning software for both autonomous and precision agriculture applications. The intent is to design a program that tracks and displays vital agronomic and geographic information in a single easy-access platform. Dubbed the Standard Data Platform for Autonomous Agriculture (SDPAA), its builders include Lethbridge-based Verge Ag, Terramera, QuantoTech Solutions, i-Open Technologies and Simon Fraser University. Now in development, the project is scheduled to be commercially available and ready to compete against major software manufacturers for farmer loyalty by 2024. According to Travis Good, Terramera chief technology officer, competition is healthy and this project should be viewed favourably because no company involved in the creation of the SDPAA markets traditional inputs to farmers. “As a collection of smaller companies, we absolutely believe we can be responsive to needs that aren’t being met by the majors,” said Good. “It’s not a knock on what the majors are doing, but we believe there’s room for an independent approach and perspective. Sometimes when [a farmer is] looking for recommendations, you just want to take away a New tool is intended to unify digital farmdata INNOVATION NOWCOMES STANDARD BY TREVOR BACQUE LEAD PHOTO BY iSTOCK FEATURE