Andrew Kippen points to the nozzle of a spray drone from Green Aero Tech. Kippen’s employer, North Valley Precision Planting, is a dealer for Green Aero Tech.  |  Don Norman photo

Spray drones struggle to take off

Farmers and agribusiness want to use drone sprayers, but regulations for applying crop protection products lag

Glacier FarmMedia – Canadian farmers are looking forward to the day their battle against pests has a better air force, but government says they’ll have to bide their time before pesticide-spraying drones are an option. Drones can be used in the United States if the product label covers aerial application and all other drone operation rules are […] Read more

The solar storm that occurred earlier in the month created havoc for farmers’ GPS guidance systems because it created magnetic fields that interact with electronics and can cause interference.  |  Getty Images

Solar storm sends field navigation haywire

In the summer of 1859, a British astronomer was investigating what looked like a group of dark specks on the sun when there was a blast of light. The flare he saw lasted five minutes. The effects lasted for two days. Telegraph systems failed so spectacularly that operators got electrical shocks from their machines. Paper […] Read more

AGCO has acquired 85 ownership of Trimble’s agricultural products line. Trimble products sold under this new joint venture will now get the brand name PTx Trimble. | Trimble/AGCO photo

PTx provides a blend of precision farming systems

The new joint Agco-Trimble venture combines digital technologies from the brands for both retrofit and OEM applications

As of early April there’s a new name on the precision farming landscape: PTx. It includes a joint Agco-Trimble venture that will take over Trimble’s existing agricultural products line as well as Agco’s JCA Technologies business under the newly named PTx Trimble brand. Agco has acquired an 85 per cent share in the joint venture, […] Read more


Spray drone technology is flourishing south of the border, where you can generally apply anything registered for aerial application. Not so in Canada... | Screencap via vimeo.com/GuardianAg

Canada needs to accommodate spray drones

Adam Bercu, founder and CEO of a company called Guardian Agriculture, has altered my opinion on the future of spray drones. I recently met Bercu at a venture capital summit in the Silicon Valley, not far from San Francisco. He was a sponsor of the event and had one of his drones on display for […] Read more

Those who rely on a WAAS GPS guidance signal should be aware of an outage on Satellite 133 during the spring seeding season.  |  John Deere photo

GPS signal outage planned

If the GPS system in use on your farm relies on a Wide Area Augmentation System signal, be aware of a planned outage that will occur in the middle of spring seeding this year. The United States Federal Aviation Administration, which administers the civilian-use GPS network, plans to switch WAAS GEO 6 (S15 – PRN […] Read more


A company that provides a DNA soil analysis service says it provides detailed soil health insights to the farmer, along with recommendations on disease prediction, seeding, seed treatments, crop protection and crop nutrition.  |  File photo

DNA analysis gives close-up look at soil health

Glacier FarmMedia – If this was a police procedural, DNA taken from the scene of a crime would help lock away the bad guy. Here, the scene is a field, the farmer is the hero and the bad guy might be a hidden crop disease that the farmer can arrest because DNA samples warned him […] Read more

John Deere introduced its fully autonomous 8R tractor for tillage applications in 2022 and began offering it commercially on a limited basis in 2023.  |  John Deere photo

Deere reaches for fully autonomous fleet by 2030

Company targets autonomous operations for every job required to grow a corn or soy crop, from tillage to harvest

As John Deere unveiled its 2025 model year product line in late February, it brought the company one year closer to a significant date: 2030. That is when the brand has promised to offer a complete fleet of autonomous equipment, able to handle a full farming season from seeding to harvest with self-driving machines. “The […] Read more

“Canadian farmers fully understand the need to take care of the environment and they are constantly innovating to find new solutions to reduce their emissions,” said federal agriculture minister Lawrence MacAulay in a news release today. | File photo

Feds spend $97 million on agricultural clean tech projects

Glacier FarmMedia – The federal government today announced some $97 million in funding for farms and agri-businesses to adopt cleaner technologies like more efficient grain dryers, solar power and precision agriculture technology. “Canadian farmers fully understand the need to take care of the environment and they are constantly innovating to find new solutions to reduce […] Read more


Precision agriculture technologies remain a popular investment choice, and for good reason. | Getty Images

Ag investments in artificial intelligence worth watching in ’24

I watch with interest what investors consider to be hot in the world of agriculture and note how quickly that interest fades and moves to the next trend. Precision agriculture technologies are the exception. They remain a popular investment choice, and for good reason. In comparison, the alternative protein sector, particularly plant-based meats, is no […] Read more

John Deere equipment will soon be able to connect to the Starlink satellite network in some regions.  |  John Deere photo

JD teams with Starlink satellite service

The equipment manufacturer plans to start in the United States and Brazil as it aims to boost machine connectivity

One common complaint from many farmers is about less-than-impressive rural cellular coverage. It’s a complaint not limited to Canada, and in fact Canadian producers have it better than those in some other countries. One problem with limited service is that it affects the use of digitally connected machines in a farm fleet, which need good […] Read more