Whether it’s sophisticated computerized field mapping to track yields, inputs, weather and topography, or the latest precision seeder and sprayer tech, for Joy Agnew the goal is the same.
“In my opinion, the true value of smart farming and data for agriculture, it’s helping producers make management decisions that account for all of these things they have no control over, yet have huge impact on the bottom line,” she said.
But which new technologies are worth producers’ trouble? Researchers at the Smart Farm at Olds College are working to evaluate new offerings and provide an independent assessment of their value beyond the marketing hype.
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Agnew is associate vice-president for applied research at Olds College in Alberta. She was speaking at the Prairie Certified Crop Advisor Board online agronomy research update in December.
She said much of what is presented as new is actually evolution of existing tools such as yield monitoring, precision soil sampling and the like.
New innovations coming to fields now include in-field crop monitors, yield mapping rather than just monitoring, and remote scouting “rather than having to walk every single acre of every field.”
“Autonomous swarms of microbots that kill weeds without herbicides are probably a little bit further than 10 years out, but these are things that early stage innovators are thinking about and doing proof-of-concept work right now,” Agnew said.
While these innovations may sound cool, there is often a mismatch: does an innovator’s solution solve an actual, in-the-field problem?
“That’s always the first stage in developing a really good solution: really fully understanding the problem in the agricultural context,” Agnew said. “That’s what we’re helping innovators with: really understanding the problems before fine-tuning or developing a tool.”
An example is data. She said most farmers are already gathering terabytes of information on various aspects of their operations but co-ordinating these, turning them into action, and clearly showing their value to the bottom line remains challenging. Part of this is due to innovators having limited access to expertise and training, or if it is available, it is scattered over different areas or even different countries. It’s an issue she has seen at conferences over the past couple of years.
“We keep hearing about cool technologies and everybody’s excited about it, but no one knows where they’re going to go to learn how to use them or learn how it might impact their bottom line on their farm,” Agnew said.
Olds College’s Smart Farm aims to fill this gap. Part of a pan-Canadian network, it includes a 2,800-acre commercial farm with beef and sheep operations. Its mandate is to provide teaching and applied research, including evaluating the latest agricultural innovations. It draws its direction from the innovator side and from farm industry advisory groups.
“We can deploy technologies and practices in our fields that commercial farmers might not be able to because of the risks associated with it,” Agnew said.
The applied research programs are designed to help small and medium-sized innovators refine their products while always focusing on return on investment for producers: does it add value to the Smart Farm’s operations? Does this translate to commercial farms elsewhere?
The program is organized into four themes: autonomous equipment, data and sensors, tech development and validation, and regenerative agriculture.
An example of research currently underway is a comparison of the six most popular data management platforms, using the Smart Farm itself as the test bed. The aim is not to identify a winner, but strengths and weaknesses that producers can match against the needs of their own operations. Findings from this continuing research are posted on the Olds College website so farmers can do their own comparisons.
The Smart Farm is also looking at the wide array of in-crop soil sensors on the market, setting up clusters from different manufacturers in the fields to allow side-by-side comparisons. Researchers are looking at the quality of the data produced, connectivity and how well the sensors withstand field conditions.
Other technology under evaluation includes optical spot spraying. This uses sensors and individual nozzle control to apply herbicide only to the weeds, dramatically reducing the amount of herbicide needed. Current systems offer “green on brown,” detection best suited to pre-seeding or pre-harvest or post-harvest applications. However, more sophisticated systems that can identify weeds and spot-spray in a standing crop are also in the works.
Agnew said the aim here is to provide practical information, such as ground conditions, optimum travel speeds and effectiveness under varying levels of weed pressure.
Some other products under scrutiny include an on-combine near-infrared spectrometer system designed to produce analysis such as grain protein content on the fly. The researchers found the system works well in the field and were awaiting comparison with “gold standard” lab tests on the same grain to test the accuracy of the in-field system.
Other Smart Farm projects are looking at spot spraying of fungicides using satellite maps and autonomous equipment, even long-term weather forecasting to predict precipitation in a season.
It adds up to a lot of information and getting it into producers’ hands is a priority. While COVID has put a planned two-day Ag Smart expo on hold, Agnew said the college is proceeding with online efforts such as reports and webinars.
Agnew stressed that industry input is essential to keep the Smart Farm research programs relevant.
“I’m asking you, what are the burning questions in ag tech you want answered?” she said. “Because the work that we do, the technologies that we adopt, the questions that we answer, I want them to come from industry. They can’t come from me sitting at my desk.”
