REGINA —SaskTel has launched what it calls an ag ecosystem to help companies do business with farmers.
Smart Ag is a digital toolkit comprised of local and international companies that are using SaskTel infrastructure to build their technologies, said Heather Clair, marketing manager for Smart Ag.
“We’ve partnered with some phenomenal companies that are experts in their field, whether it’s soil analytics, data analytics, tracking cows, taking care of water sources,” she said. “It’s all about how can we help farmers be empowered with a digital toolkit to make better, more sustainable decisions.”
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Xact Agriculture is one of the partner companies. It is a soil analytics tool that uses machine learning algorithms overlaid on satellite imagery, Clair explained. The company has taken soil samples and calibrated those to each satellite scene.
“We can then take that product and connect it with any other data on your farm using Kvale dashboarding,” she said.
The dashboard connects information from tractors, weather stations or Xact Agriculture to create a holistic look at the farm. It can take the growing degree day data from weather stations, for example, and determine when the crop will be in the next stage and when it needs to be sprayed. It layers information to provide analytics and allow for better decisions, she said.
“It’s a war room management system for your farm,” said Clair.
She said one of the key features is that farmers own their data. It is an open data system and everyone can use the data to create tools but the ownership remains at the farm.
SaskTel Smart Ag also allows startups to get a foothold in the community, Clair said.
“This is a platform that can take whatever those great up-and-coming tools are and integrate them with some of the more long standing systems within agriculture,” she said.
Another partner is Smart Paddock, which offers reusable LoRaWAN enabled solar ear tags to track cattle continuously. It uses virtual fencing and sends alerts if the cattle are out. LoRaWan is a low-power, wide-area networking protocol.
Clair said more companies are expected to sign on.
Contact karen.briere@producer.com
