Reading Time: 2 minutes A new event in conjunction with AgSmart at Olds College aims to bring mainstream technology startup support to the agriculture sector.
New ag tech pitch event to precede AgSmart
Discovery Lab brings its tech startup process to agriculture
Partnership gives Prairie ag students new 800-acre opportunity
Saskatchewan farmland bequest expanded Smart Farm eastward
Reading Time: 2 minutes Students from Saskatchewan Polytechnic and Olds College will be getting more opportunities to collaborate with each other on a large scale. The two institutions have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) which entails both schools working together for five years on various programs, notably Olds College’s Smart Farm operation. The partnership comes as a result […] Read more
Options for monitoring grain bins
3D imaging and CO2 detection are offered as options for monitoring temperature and moisture
Reading Time: 4 minutes Bin monitoring has come a long way since probes on sticks and necessarily so — as the size of grain bins has grown, so has the value of their contents. One 10,000-bushel bin can surpass $100,000. Everyone has heard horror stories of entire bins ruined, but Joy Agnew, associate vice-president of applied research for Olds […] Read more
College farms, GFM Discovery Farm to get smarter together
Two Alberta colleges sign on for new CAAIN-backed network
Reading Time: 3 minutes A pair of Alberta college farms and Glacier FarmMedia’s Saskatchewan farm are the first to plug into a national network of “smart farms” to improve the ag sector’s smart technology experience. The Olds College Smart Farm will lead the Pan-Canadian Smart Farm Network, which will also include Glacier FarmMedia Discovery Farm at Langham, Sask. and […] Read more
When college grads come home to the farm
If your kids come back from college and just end up behind the wheel of a tractor, you're missing some serious opportunities
Reading Time: 9 minutes On a sun-dappled morning in mid-September, 80 young men and women assemble in a large auditorium at the University of Manitoba’s campus. They’re here for a day of orientation as they begin two years of study towards their agricultural diplomas. Among them is 18-year-old George Meggison. He’s following in the footsteps of two sisters, as […] Read more
Smarter than you think
Here’s what your kids come home having learned about business at ag college. It’s much, much more than even a few years ago
Reading Time: 9 minutes When Colin Penner enrolled as a student in the University of Manitoba’s agricultural diploma program 10 years ago, he had to prepare a business plan for his farm. Today, he is back at the U of M as an instructor, teaching other students how to complete today’s planning assignments, which are miles ahead. Preparing a […] Read more
Smart stuff
Do parents really recognize the skills their children are bringing back from college and university, and how those skills can make the farm stronger?
Reading Time: 8 minutes Skip the smiley faces and the acronyms. In the new age of digital soft skills, agricultural schools are embracing the same modes of electronic communication as their students, albeit with a dose of finesse, professionalism and, at times, trepidation. “Don’t use emojis, they’re cute, but they’re not professional,” Mark Fournier of Alberta’s Olds College tells […] Read more
Trio of groups proposes Alberta-based agrifood ‘supercluster’
Reading Time: 2 minutes Agrium, Olds College and global satellite communications corporation MDA have submitted an application to the federal government to form an agrifood “supercluster.” The Liberal government committed up to $950 million (over five years) in its March budget to create hubs that would focus on key economic sectors in an effort to kickstart investment, boost exports […] Read more
Growing professional
Across the country, young farmers like Holly White and Kent Sereda are building respect for a new generation of business skills
Reading Time: 9 minutes Newlyweds Holly White and Kent Sereda were already quite good at tackling what you might call their legal due diligence, updating their wills and preparing marital agreements. Then they realized they should go even further. This was the right time, they decided, to review the whole succession plan for the fourth-generation family farm that they […] Read more
Taking the farm beyond the family
It takes smarts and determination to use your farm to help a new farmer get their start, but the rewards can be deeply satisfying
Reading Time: 9 minutes Four years ago, Tom and Margaret Towers were facing a dilemma that’s becoming increasingly common for farm couples as they move into what are politely called their senior years. The Towers knew they couldn’t continue to manage alone forever, and they also knew they wouldn’t want to leave the farm near Red Deer, which they’d […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
