John Deere replaces hydrostatic components with electric motors, but a spinoff in the process is a lot of electricity
John Deere’s new Electric Variable Transmission provides a stepless transmission in a high horsepower tractor class and marks a significant step toward the electrification of farm implements. The new EVT will be available for all 410-horsepower 8 Series tractors including 8R, 8RT and 8RX models. Douglas Felter of John Deere said the EVT is not […] Read more
Robin Booker
Stories by Robin Booker
Planter produces uniform pulses
Seeding pulse crops with a planter can improve seedling emergence and plant density under most conditions according to research conducted by Farming Smarter, an applied agronomy research organization out of Lethbridge. There is increasing farmer interest in using planters for multiple crops grown on the Prairies because they are gentle on seed and provide uniform […] Read more
No bin load cells? No problem, get that weight anyway
Strain gauges can be used, along with some computer programming and a bunch of smart data processing can tell what you have there
A French company can install a IoT (internet of things)-based product-measuring system into grain bins with legs within half an hour. Nanolike installs strain gauges into the legs of grain bins and then uses algorithms and artificial-intelligence based cloud computing to estimate the amount of product inside. A strain gauge is used to measure force […] Read more
New Holland puts sparkplugs back in a tractor
From diesel to methane, the shift for a new FPT design began with an ag-focused engine, but power source agnostic
Farmers will soon have access to cleaner and quieter tractors with the February launch of New Holland’s T6 Methane Power tractor during the World Ag Expo in California. The tractor’s new powerplant was built by FPT Industrial, which has a long history of collaboration with CNH Industrial. “FPT was part of CNH Industrial up until […] Read more
Taking ground data from the sky
Wyvern spends time working on understanding what prairie crop plants are saying through hyperspectral readable emissions
A Canadian start-up is developing satellites that use high-resolution hyperspectral imagery to monitor and improve broad-acre crop production. Chris Robson is the chief executive officer of Edmonton-based Wyvern, and he said the optics the company plans to launch on the satellite next year will enable a different kind of image analysis that opens new possibilities […] Read more
Precision ag machinery reaching two minutes to midnight point
Combining data and information processing with the field tools to put it to work forms Fieldin’s future
Fieldin is already the most-used digital platform for growers of high-value orchard crops, but it’s moving into the agricultural robotics space with the acquisition of Midnight Robotics late last year. Yonatan Horovitz was a co-founder of Midnight Robotics and he now holds the role of chief autonomy officer at Fieldin. He said the path towards […] Read more
Capturing field realities on the go tells tale
Advances in machine learning have enabled agricultural companies to deploy new systems that enhance their services. One of the latest companies to hop onto the artificial intelligence bandwagon is Croptimistic Technology that is going to market with its SWAT Cam in a limited release this summer. Derek Rude of Croptimistic said SWAT Cam’s automated cameras […] Read more
Laser weeding offered as tractor attachment
Meeting the power needs of a laser tool seemed to be a good fit for tractors as a platform for the robotic tool
Weed-blasting lasers are now more accessible to farmers with the launch of Carbon Robotics’ three-point hitch-based system. “We are focusing on getting more throughput performance for our laser weed solution. The robots were very successful. They did everything we wanted them to do, and we took the time to really double down and focus on […] Read more
Research examine’s perennial ryegrass potential
Project compares perennial ryegrass monocrop and oat monocrop to oat companion crops with perennial ryegrass
Perennial ryegrass seed production has many agronomic benefits for Canadian farms and a companion crop can help get the grass established. “It’s used in a lot of lawn and turf mixes so there is a demand for the seed,” said Lana Shaw, research manager of the South East Research Farm in Redvers, Sask. Speaking during […] Read more
New dirt from Olds on the latest soil sensors
Measuring soil nutrients without sending samples to a lab is a rapidly developing area of on-farm agronomy
The soil-sensor market is growing rapidly, so it’s not surprising Olds College deployed multiple systems to see how they hold up in its Smart Farm. Daniel Stefner of Olds College described four soil nutrient devices and tools the College is evaluating during a presentation at the Alberta Agronomy Update in January. First up was the […] Read more
