Crop Management
Augmented reality technology developed to help farmers compare crop conditions and review spray applications
Augmented reality (AR) will soon be used on Canadian farms to help producers make sense and manage their data. AR is the overlaying of digital information over the real world, and is already widely used in with video games such as Pokemon. Farmers will soon be able to look through a pair of AR capable […] Read more
Crop Management
Aussie hesitation on GM canola a costly mistake
Researchers say Australia’s decision to delay seeding GM canola had negative economic and environmental implications
Australia’s decision to delay the adoption of genetically modified canola cost farmers money but more significantly cost the environment, found a study by Canadian and Australian researchers released earlier this year. Stuart Smyth and Scott Biden from the University of Saskatchewan and David Hudson from SGA Solutions in Melbourne, Australia, used Canadian GM canola data […] Read more
Canola carves new role in cutting poly-pollution
In late November, Ben Lecomte abandoned his attempt to swim across the Pacific Ocean. The 51-year-old Frenchman began his swim in June and covered 2,700 kilometres of the 9,100 km journey, in an effort to raise awareness about plastic accumulating in the world’s oceans. Lecomte swam through an area known as the “Great Pacific Garbage […] Read more
Robot-raised lettuce
COALDALE, Alta. — At first, people thought the massive greenhouse being built east of this southern Alberta town was destined for marijuana production. The timing seemed right, 18 months ago, when talk was rampant about cannabis legalization. Today, an estimated one million plants flourish under 5.5 acres of glass. They are lettuce plants — leafy, […] Read more
A houseplant you can eat
COALDALE, Alta. — What to do with that living lettuce purchased with its roots attached? Treat it like a houseplant, of course — a houseplant whose leaves you can eat. The 20,000 heads of lettuce produced daily at Whole Leaf greenhouse all come with roots attached, a method of ensuring freshness. “It does last longer,” […] Read more
Intercropping research explores benefits, downsides
More and more prairie producers are showing an interest in intercropping, the practice of growing two or more crops together in the same field. What crops grow well together and under which circumstances are still being determined by a growing number of research projects across the Prairies. In 2015, Saskatchewan Agriculture planted a pea-cereal intercrop […] Read more
The hazards of harvesting hemp
THC
Legalization of cannabis for recreational use has made way for a cannabidiol (CBD) industry to take root in Canada. There is currently more demand for this cannabis extract than supply, which means it could be lucrative for at least a few growing seasons before supply catches up. The problem is that little is known about […] Read more
Small efforts can make a big impact on public opinion
Canadian agriculture can do little to combat greenhouse gases on worldwide scale, but it can take some steps
Canada’s agriculture industry cannot save the planet. About 8.5 to 10 percent of Canada’s greenhouse gas emissions come from farming, depending on the method of counting, and agriculture produces 60 million tonnes in carbon dioxide equivalents, based on federal government data. In comparison, China produces about nine billion tonnes annually. If Canadian farmers reduced their […] Read more
Bin monitoring system detects everything from heat to humans
The new GrainViz technology is so sensitive, it can identify and trigger alarms when it detects anything from the smallest bug to a trapped human in a grain bin. The latest version of GrainViz technology was unveiled in Winnipeg Dec. 12. At the same news conference, GrainViz co-founder and vice-president Boyd Koldingnes announced that his […] Read more
Stay on the ball when storing grain
Not everyone stores grain securely in big well-engineered bins. In many parts of the world, including North America, grain gets piled on the ground, sometimes with retaining rings. And sometimes there’s not even a steel or concrete retaining ring, says GrainViz entrepreneur Boyd Koldingnes. When he and the marketing team were in California recently to […] Read more
