Despite change being such a big part of farming, however, few farmers receive formal lessons in best practices for change management. Instead, many learn on the job. Most excel at it — but there are times when change fails.

There are many reasons why change efforts fail, but the most common are rushed decisions, or decisions that aren’t strategically made or that aren’t implemented properly.

These mistakes cost farmers precious time, resources and even human capital.

What does effective change look like? How can we learn from our failed change efforts and from each other to better manage change?

Is the change productive?

Agronomist Larry Durand says the first question to ask yourself when considering a change in your operations is simple: do we need this change and what will be the impact?

Over his 25-year career working with farmers in and around Humboldt, Sask., Durand has seen many changes in Canadian farming practices, such as the adoption of zero-till and precision agriculture, the mechanization of farm processes, and the rapid adoption of new technology and data collection.

Farmers come to him for change management support when adopting new products and technology and he always advises them to first do some research.

“There are a lot of technologies out there that I personally feel offer a low likelihood of providing an economic benefit,” says Durand. He advises farmers to perform due diligence on any new product or practice before moving ahead with a decision. This should include gathering input from their networks of retailers, accountants, agronomists and especially other farmers. “There are a lot of farmers out there who are very willing to share their advice. The best forum is other farmers you trust.”

Durand says farmers should also be aware that there are many products that do not have adequate science and proven results behind them.

“There are a lot of sales pitches out there,” he says. “I think it’s important to really look at any new product critically. Is this product really legitimate? Is it real or is it snake oil?”

He believes North American farmers are extremely adept at learning and adopting new technology, but he also advises farmers to consider their own abilities and preferences before making any big changes.

“Not everybody needs to be an innovator or an early adopter. In fact, in a lot of cases, it’s probably best for a lot of farmers to stand back and let the really innovative producers figure out the new technology,” he says, adding that the learning process itself can cost farmers significant amounts of time and money.

Finally, he advises farmers to ask if the scope of any prospective change is right. Sometimes making smaller, simpler changes can be just as effective.

He has helped many farms initiate “low hanging fruit” changes, the type of change that is relatively simple to adopt but which yields big effects. For example, identifying saline areas in fields that could be seeded to grass instead of used as cropland can save significant costs.

“Small changes can really make a big difference on your farm.”

Is the change strategic?

Assessing the need for change means determining if and how planned changes will support your overall organizational goals.

On Brady Fahlman’s family farm in Holdfast, Sask., being open to change ­— whether new equipment, technology or processes ­— is just part of the culture.

“It’s always been part of our farm to never be afraid to try things and to always adopt things we think will help us get a little bit better every year,” he says. “I was very fortunate to learn that from my dad. He was never afraid to try new things.”

But while the Fahlmans are open to trying new things, there’s also an understanding that any changes must be aligned with the farm’s overall business goals, he says.

For example, over the past decade, the team has been more focused on gathering data from the various new types of equipment and technology and using that data to make more informed decisions — a focus born out of strategic goals and objectives.

Fahlman says, “We actually sat down in the shop to figure out what are we actually trying to do. Do we want to just grow more yield? Do we want to grow more yield, while still watching our cost per acre? Are we more concerned about soil health?”

“Figuring out exactly what our goals were and what we were trying to do helped shape what information we actually needed to make change.”

Communicate change

Once you’ve decided to make a change, it’s important to properly manage that change within your organization, says Dr. Eric Micheels, who teaches farm and agribusiness management in the College of Agriculture and Bioresources at the University of Saskatchewan.

A major part of change management is communicating the need for change to the team ­— whether it’s a small family farm or a much larger operation ­— and ensuring there’s a general understanding of why the change is needed and what it will look like.

“Communication is really important because people are generally resistant to change. We get in a routine, we find that routine works for us and we want to continue with that. It’s the lower cost activity for us.”

Because of this glitch in human psychology, Micheels says leaders should anticipate some resistance to change and be ready to deal with it accordingly.

“Some resistance may be easily overcome, and some may be harder to overcome. But having those conversations can help you understand why team members may be resistant and help you think about what could be done to reduce some of the concerns or uncertainty. Communication can go a long way in softening resistance.”

Another consideration when communicating about change is to nurture a collaborative approach. This ensures that team members are comfortable bringing up their thoughts and ideas around new processes to organizational leaders.

“It’s important to open those channels of communication, asking: ‘Is this working? Is it not working? What can be adjusted?’” says Micheels.

He says this open communication should be ongoing in any change process and could include scheduled check-ins with leadership asking the same questions on a set schedule, whether it be every couple of months or twice a year.

“It’s not a one-shot game. It’s an evolution. We can continue to change as you identify parts of that process that were effective and parts that were less effective. Then determine how you move forward with those adjustments.”

Implementing change

Durand advises farmers not to move too fast when implementing change.

“It’s important not to jump in with both feet when you’re trying to adopt something new.”

For example, he says there is a lot of technology today that allows farmers to test and monitor new on-farm practices in replicated strip trials before adopting them too widely. Farmers can try yield monitors in combines or grain carts with load cells, among many other options.

“There are lots of great opportunities now for farmers to do on-farm trials,” Durand says.

Another important component of change management is allowing enough time for anyone affected by the change to understand it, get used to it and be trained properly, says Micheels. Again, it’s important to factor in our human psychology: as we are naturally opposed to change, more time may be needed for people to get on board.

“Nobody can change overnight,” he says. “There are going to be bumps along the way.”

Learning, like change, is constant

Learning to change — and to change better — is a constant process. We’ve all had a good dose of experience with change over the last few years. In Micheels’ opinion, the global pandemic has likely encouraged more adaptability in younger generations.

As for himself, in his role as a professor, he finds that he’s now more open to accommodating students’ needs to return to family farms during busy seasons.

“That’s a change I’ve implemented as a response to the pandemic. In the grand scheme of things, helping on the farm was probably more important than the assignment. Things that we thought were important maybe weren’t that important after all.”

The post Summer Series: Working through change appeared first on Country Guide.

“We need less feed intake, less manure, less emissions, because that is where the complaints are,” said Daniel Berckmans. “That means we must be more efficient in the core equation.”

That “core equation” is his way of adding up animal feed needs: base metabolism plus activity, plus thermal or environmental regulation, plus mental state, plus the production of meat, milk or eggs.

Berckmans is a biosystems researcher out of KU Leuven university in Belgium and the University of Tennessee. He was among the speakers at a July 10 forum on precision livestock farming at the University of Manitoba.

Energy used by the base metabolism — basic functions of life like keeping organs running — can be calculated through heart rate. Berckmans said there are at least six companies working on a commercially feasible way to measure that, and technology for horses is likely to debut this year.

Animal activity can be tracked through things like aggression monitoring. Berckmans cited his previous work on a seven-year project, which found that aggression in pigs could be detected by measuring the distance between the camera and the pig’s back, “because they jump up,” he said.

Research has also been done on the energy horses expend when frustrated versus when calm. Berckmans pointed to data outlining energy expended while a horse was running in a ring alongside energy expended by brain activity at the same time. The horse was shown a bucket of food. When the horse realized it wasn’t going to get the food, it became frustrated and began to expend more mental energy.

Infection and disease can also cut production and profit. Sensors can help localize infection in a barn, compartment or room, potentially reducing disease spread and antibiotic use. Berckmans noted technology that monitors and analyzes the sound of coughs in a facility.

“Precision livestock farming gives us the data,” he said.

It can then be used to measure how far an operation is from desired outputs and to design prediction-based controllers.

“That’s what we do for decades in airplanes, in making mechanical systems, electronic systems,” Berckmans said.

While there’s been lots of research into agricultural use of precision technology, very little has been implemented, he said.

The post Precision livestock farming could fine-tune feed efficiency ‘equation’ appeared first on Country Guide.

Bayer on Oct. 30 announced integration of the two platforms, which it said will allow grain farmers in Canada and the U.S. to connect their marketing data in Combyne and the agronomic data FieldView gathers from their field equipment.

Seeded-acreage and yield data from FieldView can thus allow Combyne users to accurately track the total bushels available to market without needing to export, upload and enter data twice, Bayer said.

Once a farmer reviews the available FieldView data, using Combyne’s Import Review function, the harvested and projected-yield figures in Combyne will automatically update with the actual figures.

That in turn will make Combyne’s data on percentage sold and net marketed position more accurate, “using your real numbers off the combine instead of rough estimates,” according to Combyne’s website.

Incoming FieldView data will also allow a Combyne user to “know how much of your harvest is already committed and better manage your forward contracting.”

That means a “fuller and more accurate picture of current-year harvest totals and projections for future years to easily update crop contract and storage positions, and enable up-to-date crop marketing decisions,” Bayer said.

Combyne was released to the public in late 2021 by Ottawa Valley farmer Alain Goubau’s company Combyne Ag — previously known as the developer of the grain marketing tool FarmLead, which was sunset in 2020.

Combyne is meant to serve as a record-keeping and decision-making support tool, gathering information on grain storage balances, contracts, deliveries and settlements across multiple buyers — as well as net overall marketed positions per crop.

According to Bayer, which acquired Combyne Ag in January, the Combyne platform allows farmers to manage grain trade documents in one place for a clear view of contractual commitments, delivery status, storage positions and cash flow projections from grain sales, and thus better manage contract risk and delivery logistics.

“With accurate bushel quantities populating your marketed positions, you can better manage things like how forward contracted you are, how much of your harvest is already committed, and where things stand when it comes to your storage and deliveries,” Goubau, now CEO of Bayer’s Combyne Ag arm, said in Bayer’s Oct. 30 release.

“By working with FieldView, delivered grain outcomes in Combyne can eventually be connected back to the fields they originated from and the management choices made on those fields, for better mapping of quality specs such as grade and dockage from delivered loads,” he said.

That, in turn, allows for “field-level profitability insights — mapping actual revenue from sold crops against cost of production per field.”

Climate FieldView, which came to Bayer when it bought Monsanto in 2018, was launched in the U.S. in 2015 and in Canada late the following year.

It was developed by Climate Corp., a Monsanto arm since 2013, as a single platform to unite data from each piece of precision ag equipment, for access via smartphone, tablet or desktop. — Glacier FarmMedia Network

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From farmers’ perspective, the two companies say their combined technology offering is expected to offer “seamless integration and connectivity across geographies, equipment brands and the crop life cycle.”

The structure of the deal announced Thursday will see Trimble receive $2 billion cash and a 15 per cent share in the new joint venture, for total pre-tax value of about $3 billion accrued to that company (all figures US$).

Agco, whose machinery brands include Massey Ferguson, Fendt, Challenger and Valtra, contributes its JCA Technologies business to the new j.v. and will hold the 85 per cent majority stake in the venture.

The deal is expected to close in the first half of 2024, pending the usual approvals and other closing conditions.

The new j.v. won’t include Trimble’s Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) or guidance tech, but Trimble will provide those to the new venture under a new long-term supply agreement and technology transfer and license agreement — along with an agreement making the new venture a “channel partner” of Trimble’s positioning services in the ag market.

Winnipeg-based JCA, which Agco bought last year, makes systems and software including the Vireo precision ag system, the Eagle autonomous equipment system and the Falcon and Oriole controller systems.

JCA also developed the control system supporting the Canadian-made DOT autonomous ag equipment platform, now owned by Agco’s OEM rival CNH Industrial.

Trimble and Agco said the new venture is meant to “better serve farmers with factory-fit and aftermarket applications in the mixed fleet precision agriculture market” and to be “a global leader in mixed-fleet smart farming and autonomy solutions.”

The deal “accelerates Agco’s growth ambitions around autonomy, precision spraying, connected farming, data management and sustainability,” Agco CEO Eric Hansotia said in a release.

It also “significantly enhances Agco’s technology stack with disruptive technologies that cover every aspect of the crop cycle, which ultimately helps us better serve farmers no matter what brand they use,” he said.

“We believe a joint venture with Agco, complemented by the successful mixed fleet approach that they have developed with their Precision Planting business model, can help us better serve farmers and OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) together,” Trimble CEO Rob Painter said.

From Trimble’s perspective, the deal streamlines its asset portfolio and allows it to increase its focus on “priority growth areas” — while reducing its direct exposure to the “hardware-centric” ag market but still maintaining its “ongoing participation in a leading precision ag asset.”

The “commercial synergies” the new joint venture will get from direct access to Agco’s OEM, aftermarket, other OEM and retrofit channels — along with “modest” run-rate cost synergies — are expected to roughly double the new venture’s earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) by year five after the deal closes, Agco said.

GSI under review

In its release Thursday announcing the new joint venture, Agco also said it has placed its “grain and protein” business segment under “strategic review.”

That business segment includes Agco’s grain handling systems brand GSI, as well as grain processing equipment brand Cimbria and three livestock housing systems brands: Cumberland, AP and Tecno.

While Agco didn’t give any examples of the options it’s considering for those businesses, it said it will “assess all strategic options to ensure the Grain and Protein customers are serviced in the best way possible, and that the business is best positioned to maximize its full potential.” — Glacier FarmMedia Network

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“You have got to have the root purpose of why you got that technology. Either that or you talk to others to help you find that purpose,” said Regan Ferguson, who farms with her husband, Mike, near Melfort.

“I find that once you have a purpose, you’re more apt to dig into it further and become more comfortable with it because you’re finally finding the value in it.”

The Fergusons are first-year users of Bayer’s Climate FieldView, a multi-application digital agriculture platform. They discussed Fieldview and digital ag in general at a roundtable held Tuesday at Ag in Motion near Langham, Sask.

Research can take the mystery out of unfamiliar technology, said Ferguson.

“The more I looked into Climate, did research and learned about it, I found the ‘why’ and the purpose of its need on our farm and got more excited to get it in place this year.”

Climate FieldView has given her the ability to keep track of all equipment in the field, what it’s doing and whether it’s doing it right. It also provides a detailed record of the operation.

“It was reassuring to know that we had some kind of data to back us up if we ever needed it,” said Ferguson.

Bayer says Climate FieldView was designed to centralize data, visuals and reporting in a package that producers can interpret and act upon, by optimizing fertility, seeding management or other crop operations.

“We’ve got to do this because of our return on investment with chemical and fertility. We just want to put the fertilizer where it needs to be,” said Ferguson.

— Jeff Melchior reports for Alberta Farmer Express from Edmonton.

The post At Ag in Motion: Find a purpose, then buy tech, Prairie grower says appeared first on Country Guide.

“We tried a bunch of pulse crops, including field peas, chickpeas, lentils, faba beans, soybeans, and we also tried it on irrigated durum and hemp,” said Farming Smarter researcher Gurbir Dhillon. “Seedling emergence and stand establishment improved across the board for all crops with the narrow-row (precision) planter.”

But looks don’t pay the bills when it comes to seeding equipment, and several years of Farming Smarter trials suggest it can be hard to make an economic case for a pricey precision planter.

“We started this project with canola and we saw a yield advantage with canola, especially under irrigated conditions,” said Dhillon.

“(But) in the years with low rainfall, we didn’t see an advantage to the planters when it came to canola yield.”

READ MORE: The race toward precision agriculture

Still, there’s a lot of interest in how a precision planter can perform. Some of that interest comes from producers who already have one because they’re growing corn or soybeans. Other farmers would like to see improved emergence rates, which should also result in more even stands at harvest time.

“Farmers wanted to be able to improve their canola emergence and they were interested in seeing if they could do it using the precision planter,” said Dhillon.

Farming Smarter researchers conducted trials at five dryland sites (at Lethbridge, Medicine Hat, Brooks, Taber and Enchant) over four years, using both an air drill and a precision planter to plant narrow rows (12 inches) and wide ones (22 inches). The narrow precision-planted rows had higher yields when rainfall was decent but in dry years that yield advantage disappeared.

It was a similar story for pulses, and yield advantages were not as consistent as in canola.

“In general, the planters yield better than the air drill or as good as the air drill,” said Dhillon.

The results were intriguing enough that if funding can be found, he would like to conduct further trials with a closer look at seeding rates.

“In the future, we do want to look at the better stand establishment with the pulse crop,” he said. “What’s the best agronomy to go ahead, especially with seeding rate? If there is better emergence with the precision planter, farmers may be able to cut down on their seeding rate.”

Farming Smarter researchers would also like to study pulse crops on irrigated acres.

“We want to see if there’s a similar advantage on irrigated production for pulse crops and what are the best systems that go with precision planting,” said Dhillon.

Fall seeding gets a test drive

Another ongoing research interest for the Lethbridge-headquartered organization is fall-seeded crops, a goal driven by southern Alberta’s ongoing soil erosion problem.

“We wanted to be able to keep the surfaces covered during that fall season so that wind erosion doesn’t remove the top inch of our soils,” said Dhillon. “One option is to go with cover crops, but fall seeding of some cash crops could be another option.”

The goal was to see how well crops established before freeze-up, how well they overwintered, and if there was an advantage in terms of using early spring moisture.

Researchers seeded fall rye, winter wheat, oats, lentils, barley, peas and camelina.

“Certain fall-seeded crops, such as camelina, showed a better ability to utilize early spring snow melt moisture, which was especially valuable due to drought conditions in 2021 and early spring 2022,” Dhillon said.

“Furthermore, despite the difficulties in controlling weeds in novel crops such as camelina and lentil cultivars, fall-seeded crops displayed a tendency to overpower weeds due to their early spring growth. Fall-seeded production can be a value option for many crops, specifically camelina, lentils and wheat.”

The test sites were in Lethbridge, Bow Island and Enchant — and location mattered.

“The establishment, growth and yield of fall-seeded varieties differed significantly between these locations,” said Dhillon. “The occurrence and duration of low soil temperature periods played a critical role in determining the overwinter survival of winter crops.

“According to the winter conditions observed in 2021-22, Lethbridge was found to be the most favourable location for winter crop production, followed by Bow Island.”

However, these observations are based on just one year of data.

The organization plans to continue the experiment once funding has been obtained. Dhillon especially wants to take a closer look at winter camelina because it showed potential. It was hardy, easily able to compete with weeds (and much better than spring camelina on that score), and also had higher yields.

“We’re planning to do two trials on the agronomic management of fall seeding camelina, and are just waiting for funding decisions,” said Dhillon.

The post Good looks and high yields don’t always go together appeared first on Country Guide.

The 2022 growing season was the first year for a project to study mid-season corn tissue sampling to determine whether it would boost yield. There has been past late-season tissue sampling to assess nutrient levels from the previous growing season, but this mid-season testing was to assess potential to boost the current crop’s yields.

“Interest was sparked in 2021 when some nutrient deficiencies related to zinc (Zn) were discovered at corn tassel (VT),” says Danny Jefferies, precision ag specialist with Deveron, based in Chatham, Ont. “The goal of this project is to be long-term, ultimately developing a protocol which delivers actionable insights resulting in yield and profitability increases for our clients.”

Deveron worked with four farmer collaborators across Ontario, and had support and partial funding from the Upper Thames Conservation Authority. They used precision tools available to the farmer participants, along with measurements from plant tissue analysis by A&L Laboratories Canada in London.

Four samples were collected from each farm, June 13 (V5), June 27 (V7), July 11 (V10) and August 24 (R4). The goal was to benchmark conditions earlier in the season and then track responses from later treatments to determine the best chance at targeting applications for optimum effect. It was especially important to understand corn nutrient uptake timing, and rates, partitioning and remobilization, keeping in mind that most uptake increases quickly after V6.

“We also wanted to be sure to have sampling around or just prior to VT timing to allow for evaluation of zinc uptake and perhaps capitalize on a sprayer pass already occurring with fungicide applications,” says Jefferies. “Ideally, if a budget was unlimited, additional samples and tracking over tighter intervals would be beneficial.”

The process

Samples were collected from two locations in each field, chosen based on yield potential. Jefferies says they used historical yield maps to select traditionally high-yielding areas, and then a low- to medium-yielding area. They deliberately avoided areas with poor yields resulting from environmental factors such as standing water or eroded knolls. The idea was to push low to medium areas into higher yields based on limiting factors based on nutrition rather than environment.

“We collected a baseline soil sample at the same time and location of our first tissue sample collection. This provided us a measure of background soil fertility at that location. We also did multiple collections at each site, including a tissue and a sap test collection.”

For the sap testing, they collected a sample from the lower leaves (older growth) and upper leaves (newer growth). Based on observations from the tissue test, they evaluated and made recommendations to the farmer clients, including choices for product applications. Then they evaluated the nutrient’s uptake, using additional post-application tissue and sap tests to find changes in those levels.

“The collaborators are top-end managers; all fields are well tiled, well managed for soil health and well fertilized with good background fertility,” says Jefferies. “The pursuit of micronutrients is further down the food chain and a potential ‘missing link’ in our 2022 data set will be the variable of moisture.”

He says generally, all site locations lacked moisture during July, with expected impacts on the corn’s nutrient uptake.

Another part of the project — which may need a more in-depth examination — relates to the choice of foliar products. There are plenty of foliar nutrient solutions available, including chelated and fulvic acids. Some of the collaborators also apply tank mixes with different adjuvants. Jefferies believes there are differences in how products perform in terms of plant uptake and the responses he saw in the tissue and sap tests.

Cleanliness is important

Jefferies says they took great lengths to ensure samples were taken in the cleanest conditions, avoiding contamination from dust or soil on the tissues or contact with fertilizers, salts or grease.

“We also made sure to sample after applications to make sure we weren’t in the field immediately or shortly after the product was applied. It was important not to sample when there was still moisture on the leaves, as this could influence the sap test results. We took care to store samples cool and transport them in a cooler — quick delivery to the laboratory was also important.”

It’s been suggested that mid-season tissue tests offer a greater return on investment for higher-value crops such as potatoes, but Jefferies maintains there is certainly value to tissue testing in cash crops. The key is to conduct the sampling strategically and economically — to “fry the big fish first” and ensure they have the background fertility well managed, then sample in multiple locations using satellite imagery or historical yield data.

The testing in this program assessed the entire spectrum of macro- and micronutrients within the leaf. The sap test also analyzed sugars, pH and nitrogen conversion efficiency (NCE), which illustrates the plant’s efficiency in converting nitrogen to usable forms like amino acids and proteins. They also observed how certain nutrients behave once in the plant tissue.

“Boron, even though it’s mobile within the soil profile, is immobile within the plant,” explains Jefferies. “We saw an uptick in boron levels post-application, but sampling a couple of weeks later, our levels were back down as the nutrient didn’t move to the new growth. This really illustrated the importance of hitting an ideal window for timing when the nutrient is most in need.”

Environmental spinoffs

The capability and efficiency of plants to use available or applied nutrients is a growing concern outside of agriculture because of environmental effects, but research into doing more with less also offers farmers the opportunity to save on expensive fertilizer and other inputs.

The Upper Thames River Conservation Authority (UTRCA) has been working with Deveron staff for several years, examining the impact of cover crops from environmental, economic and agronomic perspectives. The environmental impact was reason for the UTRCA’s interest for this tissue-testing project.

“As we promote practices, we need to also consider the impact to the whole farming operation,” says Tatianna Lozier, stewardship services co-ordinator with the UTRCA. “The economics of soil health, water quality or climate change practices continue to be at the forefront of conversations these days. Deveron staff have provided valuable insight into the type of data we should collect to answer farmer-led questions about their fields and have been invaluable in analyzing the data.”

The authority has participated in past studies investigating potential nutrient loss from stream vegetation or cover crops. Tile drainage and surface runoff, especially of phosphorus, have always been of concern for the UTRCA. For this project, they included tissue sampling based on recommendations from Deveron staff to provide potential insight on differences in yields with or without cover crops.

Lozier says this kind of research offers the opportunity for understanding from all sides — stewardship, farming and research/service providers.

“Our stewardship staff will continue to learn and expand our knowledge of precision practices, but ultimately we rely on partnerships with those who have expertise outside of our organization. Working in partnership with companies like Deveron allows the opportunity for a number of different perspectives on an issue.”

The project is slated to continue in 2023, with several challenges. Lozier says they’re looking for more collaborators, but Jefferies says tissue testing is labour-, time- and equipment-intensive, and labour availability is at an all-time low. They also need further validation that their recommendations are leading to higher yields, which could help convince growers of the value of testing and specific nutrient applications.

Other resources:

• Studying the Economics of Cover Crops (UTRCA/YouTube)

The post Sampling plant tissue for a mid-season boost appeared first on Country Guide.

CNH announced Thursday it will pay $175 million for Hemisphere, which has been owned since 2013 by Chinese geospatial tech firm Beijing Unistrong (all figures US$).

CNH described the deal for Hemisphere as “a critical step that advances our automated and autonomous solutions for agriculture and construction.”

The machinery maker has undertaken a major push into autonomous ag — most significantly in 2021 with the $2.1 billion purchase of U.S. precision ag tech firm Raven Industries, whose products include the Canadian-developed OMNiPower (formerly DOT) autonomous equipment system.

CNH also bought control of U.S.-Greek precision ag and field analysis tech firm Augmenta earlier this month, and a minority stake in U.S. ag sensor firm EarthOptics in January.

Hemisphere, which was spun off from U.S.-based AgJunction — now an arm of Kubota Corp. —  acquired the Kansas-based Outback Guidance business from AgJunction in 2018.

Combined with its Raven business’ capabilities, CNH said Thursday, “this development gives us full control of our precision and navigation technologies.”

“Having Hemisphere’s technology in-house will enable us to accelerate a broad range of our precision technology programs, providing our customers with immediate productivity-enhancing solutions,” Marc Kermisch, CNH’s chief digital and information officer, said in Thursday’s release. “It will also increase the long-term competitiveness and flexibility of our agriculture and construction portfolio.”

Hemisphere will, however, continue to operate as a standalone business through its operations in Canada, the U.S. and Australia, CNH said.

Headquartered in Scottsdale, Ariz., Hemisphere’s Canadian operations include a site in Calgary and its Outback Guidance site at Oak Bluff, Man., just southwest of Winnipeg.

Hemisphere’s global navigation satellite system (GNSS) and related electronics and software provide “pinpoint accuracy” for agriculture, construction, mining and marine tools, CNH said. The company’s tech includes circuit chips, circuit boards, radio frequency signal processing, navigation algorithms and satellite-based correction designs.

Hemisphere CEO Farlin Halsey said the combination with CNH “enables us to further enhance our technology and product development” in those core markets and to “directly integrate our technology with CNH Industrial’s world-class equipment.”

The deal, pending regulatory and shareholder approvals, is expected to close sometime in the third quarter of 2023. — Glacier FarmMedia Network

The post CNH to buy Outback Guidance’s parent firm appeared first on Country Guide.

“In 2022, we led a variety of projects in partnership with industry and academics to provide the digital ag ecosystem with more skills, training and resources,” says Jacqueline Keena, managing director of the Enterprise Machine Intelligence and Learning Initiative (EMILI). “Our work is focused on building knowledge and developing new technologies that increase sustainability and productivity. The projects we engage in represent a big investment in the future of digital ag in Canada, and we will continue to accelerate innovative technologies and provide people with the skills and training to support a strong digital ag sector.”

Last year, in partnership with Farm Credit Canada, EMILI launched Innovation Farms Powered by AgExpert. The project creates space for EMILI to partner with producers and industry to support research. It’s centred around the day-to-day operations of a full-scale commercial seed farm. Support also comes from Rutherford Farms, Enns Brothers, Family of Jake Enns Innovation Fund, John Deere Canada and Access Credit Union.

Innovation Farms Powered by AgExpert is located near Winnipeg on Rutherford Farms, which has many years of historical data compiled from sensors located across 5,500 acres. Farm owner Rick Rutherford has shared this data with EMILI to provide a benchmark for future trials and demonstrations. A 100-acre area is devoted to giving startups the space to test and validate so they can show investors their progress and scale up sooner. For example, the area is used by University of Winnipeg researchers working with EMILI to create a database of millions of labelled images of Prairie crops and weeds that will lead to development of a new crop-identification algorithm.

Strengthening the data ecosystem

The EMILI Data Initiative helps build knowledge and skills on important questions related to ag data, including data ownership, privacy and interoperability.

“As agriculture increases the adoption of data-intensive digital tools, questions arise about privacy, data ownership or confidentiality that farmers as business owners have not previously encountered,” says Keena. “Similarly, there may be uncertainty about how new systems will interoperate with existing software tools. Working through these issues and managing the associated risks is central to the successful acquisition and integration of new digital technologies.”

In 2023, EMILI will continue to grow the Innovation Farms Powered by AgExpert project, place sensors and conduct testing across the farm and seek collaborators and innovators who are looking to test and validate at the full-scale commercial farm.

Data will be collected using FCC’s AgExpert software.

“As we partner with startups and scale-ups to test new technologies, AgExpert software will be a tool we rely on to explore different approaches to all aspects of the crop cycle to better understand the impacts of the choices made on the farm,” says Keena.

In 2023, EMILI will also increase the integration of intelligent technologies and build new collaborations with smart farms and post-secondary institutes.

“For example, EMILI is planning to develop an agriculture innovation platform to collect and share results globally, increasing opportunities for collaboration and knowledge sharing,” says Keena. “This includes sharing best practices and working collaboratively with members of the Pan-Canadian Smart Farm Network as well as the Innovation Corridor in the Midwest United States.”

Open for collaboration

Keena says collaboration is key to fostering innovation.

“If you are interested in partnering on projects that increase integration of intelligent technologies, empower people with digital skills, support scale-ups to grow in the Prairies, and/or accelerate Manitoba’s growth as a leader in digital agriculture, we want to hear from you,” she says.

“While we are based in Manitoba, our projects have an impact across Canada, and we have partnerships in Manitoba and Canada-wide.”

Keena says a highlight of 2022 was EMILI’s annual Agriculture Enlightened Conference.

“Our 2022 event included panel discussions with high-calibre speakers and the chance to learn more about the launch of Innovation Farms Powered by AgExpert, the significant achievements of the Explore Project, and the continued success of the EMILI Data Initiative.”

The next Agriculture Enlightened conference will take place in Winnipeg and online on October 26, 2023.

Recruiting the future

In 2022, EMILI continued its ongoing partnership with Actua, Ag in the Classroom and Protein Industries Canada to advance the Explore Project, delivering programming to youth in K-12 with a focus on STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) to build skills for careers in digital agriculture, plant protein and the agri-food industry.

“Since the Explore project launched in 2021, there have been more than 58,000 youth engaged, including more than 11,000 Indigenous youth across the Prairies,” says Keena. “This surpasses the project’s original goals and demonstrates the strong desire out there for programming that introduces youth to STEM and digital ag skills.

“We already know that Canada is facing a skills and labour shortage in agriculture that is projected to grow to a total shortage of 123,000 workers.”

The post Building a digital agriculture framework appeared first on Country Guide.

In the first article in the series, we looked at foresight, a formal planning process that recommends learning all you can about the entire business system you’re working in, then watching for small changes — called “signals” by the foresight experts — anywhere within that system. Once a signal has been identified, foresight experts use their understanding of the links within the system to see how that signal might have an impact on each business within the system in the future.

With that groundwork laid, we set out now to find a range of experts working in the agriculture and food industry. We ask them what signals they’re noticing, and what changes they see in our collective future, and how we might prepare for these changes at the farm level.

One of these experts is Alberta-based Robert Saik, a noted agrologist, entrepreneur and international consultant. Saik was the founder of AgriTrend/Agri-Data Group of Companies, a business that has been acquired by Trimble, and he served as the CEO of DOT, the company building autonomous farm equipment.

Now Saik is the founder and CEO of AGVisorPro and Saik Management Group.

A new mindset

Like most farmers, Saik sees change coming to all areas of the ag sector, driven by improved data availability, new technology, and changing world trade patterns. In the midst of all of these changes, Saik has identified a key priority: “the mental machinery that it takes to run a farm operation.” 

In 20 years, we’ll need to invest in new technology, new ways of managing data and new pest and disease solutions. But if we’re going to be truly successful, Saik says, “we need to spend more time honing the mental engines of farm operators, and farmers need to spend a lot more time investing in themselves.”

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With technology and machinery developments, every year there is less physical work involved in agriculture. A lot of the hardest work is mental. “It’s increasingly about consolidating information, disseminating information, running teams and making long-term decisions so your short-term decisions fall in line,” Saik says. Farmers need to organize their time to make sure they understand the implications of the information that will affect their farms.

How does Saik ensure that his mental engine is up to the task? He makes building mental skills a priority in his life. Every 90 days, Saik travels to meet with a coach, making time to review his business and his life. “I just started my 29th year with a coach,” Saik says. “I’ve invested hundreds of thousands of dollars into my personal coaching.” 

Saik’s coach uses a peer-to-peer model, giving Saik access to other entrepreneurs who work in different industries but face similar challenges. “When you think about successful farmers and you think about entrepreneurs, they have one thing in common: They’re extremely lonely. That is because nobody understands them.” Successful farmers, he says, aren’t the ones going to the coffee shop to talk. They’re the farmers people in the coffee shop are talking about. 

“As an entrepreneur, my number one asset is my confidence,” Saik says. Saik’s confidence comes from understanding himself and the industry he’s working in. Successful farmers also need that confidence, and they will still need confidence 20 years from now. “Farmers of the future will have to spend a lot of time honing their skill sets.”

From IOT to IOP

In 20 years, farmers are going to need to be prepared to cope with the enormous explosion of data coming from their own farm. Saik envisions sensors collecting reams of on-farm information from animals, equipment, crops and storage facilities. “We’re going to see the development of all sorts of IOT,” he says, referring to the “internet of things” — physical objects embedded with sensors and connected to software. 

Farmers will need to figure out the best way to use that data. This, Saik says, will require the IOP — Saik’s term for the “internet of people.” No one farmer can be strong in every area of the business. To build strength in their areas of weakness, farmers will need connections to other farmers and to experts. When farmers have specific problems or questions, they’ll need to connect with professionals with the right specialization. It’s unlikely that the right expert will be geographically close. Farmers will need to build their own networks, IOPs. 

Anticipating this, Saik’s newest project, AGVisorPro connects farmers and agronomists to experts who can answer their specific questions. He is also working as a coach for farmer peer groups through what he calls his PowerFARM program.

Farmers of the future will be under pressure to combine their own on-farm information with market, weather and geopolitical data. “The demands of the farm of the future are going to be a lot more mental than we realize,” Saik says.

The post ‘It’s all in your head’ appeared first on Country Guide.