Makers of the Ecorobotix ARA claim their sprayer can apply chemical to a crop using one nozzle per row and that it is individually triggered to turn on and off using instructions from a single sensor dedicated solely to reading that specific crop row, on a 20-foot sprayer at 4.7 m.p.h. Not only that, the […] Read more
Ron Lyseng
Stories by Ron Lyseng
Introduction to drone data gathering
The drone school was organized by Matt Johnson, vice-president of Volatus Unmanned Services (Volatus Aerospace) which provides UAV training in Manitoba. Johnson said the one-day school exposes high school students to academic research activities using drones.
It’s getting hot in here, how’s your canola?
Most grain spoilage is avoidable if you know it’s happening, so producers are encouraged to frequently check binned canola.
You’ve got to move it
The Canola Council is no newcomer to counselling growers with high volumes of old-crop canola that may remain on farms in bins through the hot days of summer. Courtney Boyachek, an agronomist at Minnedosa, Man., is the council’s storage specialist. “Number One in our best management practices revolves around awareness of the surrounding factors, mainly […] Read more
Olds puts Omnipower to the test
The agricultural robot covered 10,000 acres at the Olds College Smart Farm that yielded valuable experience
Roy Maki is the Smart Farm research manager at Olds and is leading the autonomous agriculture equipment research. When asked about possible financial benefits to the farmer, Maki said that autonomy will be driven primarily by a shortage of capable farm labour.
Omnipower future is not here yet
John Burns says the era of autonomous implements has not yet arrived. He compares them to electric vehicles, whose time has just come too soon. He said there’s little support for robotic vehicles in government regulations or within the industry for completely autonomous vehicles.
Novel auxin wages war on weeds
The good news for cereal growers is that Corteva has introduced a new active ingredient to fight broadleaf weeds. The bad news is it won’t be available until 2028. The new product is called Bexoveld, which Corteva says provides good control of broadleaf weeds, including key resistant species in cereal crops. At low rates Bexoveld […] Read more
Automation may help with inexperienced labour
Autonomous equipment is expected to make it easier to hire inexperienced people to operate expensive equipment.
Look to the cloud to protect grade
Bin monitoring system allows producers to keep an eye on their assets right from their computers or smartphones
Grade loss because fans weren’t turned on in the bin is an indefensible mistake, especially when there are so many high-calibre bin monitoring systems available to grain growers. GSI is one of the largest manufacturers of monitoring systems and it recently announced upgrades to its GrainVue system, said Greg Trame, director of technology sales. In […] Read more
Papa’s got a brand new bag
Are grain bags getting bigger, smaller or just better? That question was proposed by Vern Kirk on a recent Flaman Connect podcast. Kirk manages Prograin equipment in Colonsay, Sask. The April 24 Flaman Connect was hosted by Mitch Flaman, along with Flaman employees Trevor Grinde and Regan Kunz. The following is a partial transcript of […] Read more
