Reading Time: 9 minutes Over the years, all the major machinery brands have shown autonomous concept tractors to the public at farm machinery shows. They clearly wanted to get the message out that they have the engineering ability to build them. For example, CaseIH displayed its concept autonomous Magnum tractor at the U.S. Farm Progress show in 2016 where […] Read more
Awaiting the autonomous tractor
How soon will there be a self-driving, autonomous tractor in your shed?
Pest Patrol: How accurate are plant identification apps when it comes to weeds?
#PestPatrol with Mike Cowbrough, OMAFRA
Reading Time: 2 minutes Recommendations for plant identification apps were recently making the rounds on social media. Of course it would be nice to accurately identify an unknown weed in your field by taking a picture instead of sending it to an “expert” or a diagnostic lab. However, many of the top-rated plant identification apps are not particularly accurate […] Read more
Rural crime: There’s an app for that
Rural crime rates are going up because criminals think they won’t get caught. We’ve got to change that, and this app may help
Reading Time: 9 minutes As I was writing this article, I learned through a Twitter post that a neighbouring farm five km away had experienced a break and enter of their farm shop. The Twitter post encouraged people in the community to check their shops to see if anyone else had been victimized. Unfortunately, I did not see the […] Read more
Apply your fungicide where it matters
Climate FieldView is helping growers use imaging combined with historical data for a targeted approach to fungicide application
Reading Time: 4 minutes When it is time to make a fungicide decision, D’Arcy Hilgartner weighs several factors. Is the crop at the right stage? What are the current moisture conditions? How has the weather looked throughout the season compared to years past? How much of his crop is likely susceptible to disease? Today, he can access all of […] Read more
Who’s getting educated?
It’s time for ag suppliers to get as good as farmers at technology, and to treat us with the respect we have earned
Reading Time: 6 minutes Technology and big data have changed nearly every facet of agriculture. My tractor performance is continually monitored, not only by the operator but by the manufacturer. If the operator slips the clutch or stalls the tractor while under load, I can expect an immediate notification on my cell phone. If it’s anything more serious, a […] Read more
Food apps could be a game-changer for nutrition
These incredible new apps may become the next big disruptors in the food industry. You’ll probably subscribe too. But will they be good for the farm?
Reading Time: 5 minutes Among the many emerging technologies poised to change how we eat and even how we think about food, one of the most explosive could be personalized nutrition. It’s the idea of individual nutrition plans built around a person’s specific physical characteristics. And according to industry watchers, it could be so much more than just a […] Read more
John Deere builds a new home for rare talent
The green brand is on the lookout for 'unicorns' in high-technology fields, and with farm backgrounds
Reading Time: 6 minutes In today’s high-technology world, a new startup tech firm with the potential to go really big is often described as a unicorn. That term is also used to describe a software engineer or skilled programmer with exactly the right background and combination of skills to drive a company forward, simply because both of those are […] Read more
The skills you’ll need as farms become more digital
Technology is transforming agriculture at a speed we hardly grasp. Will yours be among the farms that emerge stronger?
Reading Time: 5 minutes In October, Country Guide covered the report “Farmer 4.0: How the Coming Skills Revolution Can Transform Agriculture” published by RBC, with its emphasis on how the era of super-automation will change how we farm. “As Canadian farmers leave traditional tasks to smart machines, and focus on strategy and systems, they’ll be better positioned than ever […] Read more
Why farm innovation is faltering
Farmers are being left behind as they get squeezed between new regulations and consumer activism
Reading Time: 8 minutes The turn of the millennium was an amazing time to be involved in agriculture. Technologies like Roundup Ready, LibertyLink and Bt corn hybrids were in their infancy, with the promise of more to come from GMO labs. GPS yield monitors were new too, and the fledgling world of molecular “pharming” and “farmaceuticals” seemed to promise […] Read more
Smart sprayer knows which herbicide to apply, and when
BASF’s Xarvio advances application technology
Reading Time: 3 minutes It’s clear that public sentiment about perceived food safety and the environment is beginning to have a significant impact on consumer choices. An easy case in point is the marketing of meatless burgers at fast food chains as a way to save the planet from climate change. In crop production, meanwhile, the use of herbicides […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
