A group of companies headed by Bosch has created a new digitally integrated cab designed for use in a variety of off-road machines. It builds on technologies used in the automotive sector.

A Genius in the tractor cab

This systems supplier is integrating cutting-edge automotive safety systems into off-road equipment cabs

Reading Time: 4 minutes A few years ago I had the pleasure of interviewing the industrial designer who styled the cab and body of the first Challenger 65 belted ag tractors, which were then part of the Caterpillar brand before coming under AGCO ownership. Before coming to Cat, the designer had spent several years working for General Motors and […] Read more

Seeding smartphone tips

Seeding smartphone tips

Cellphones have been dubbed “smartphones” but sometimes the way folks are addicted to them causes dumb problems. I’ve read three articles that suggest that cellphones are creating isolation, poorer communication and less robust relationships. Stress rises when there is a million-dollar crop to get in the ground, excess moisture, and too many jobs for the[...]
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Tom Button

Editor’s Note: How many farmers do we really need?

Probably we don’t ‘need’ nearly as many farmers as we have today, but only if you ignore the way that farmers’ business skills are transforming the world of agriculture

Reading Time: 2 minutes There are some three million truck drivers in the U.S. today, and another 200,000 in Canada. Except, their jobs depend on their employers not using the self-driving technology that is already in use on farms all across North America. While we’re all fixated on all the disruptions that Donald Trump is creating, most of us[...]
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”It’s sort of an ‘evergreen’ question: is technology slowing down in agriculture?”— Dr. Glenn Fox, University of Guelph

Corn yields still on the rise

Check out the numbers when you use interpolated data to even out our year-by-year weather swings

Reading Time: 5 minutes What if we could peer into the future and catch a glimpse of where our agriculture is heading? How would such a view shape the development of plant breeding and advances in technology, and maybe even the impact on farmers? A University of Guelph PhD student is working to develop a new yield model, first[...]
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Kinze’s multi- hybrid planter allows farmers to switch between two hybrids in the field based on a prescription map.

High-tech seeding

New equipment options promise growers more and better control over this critical field operation

Reading Time: 7 minutes Over the years, few field operations have caused growers more head scratching. Seeding is the critical first step in getting a good crop, and there are many variables in play. Is the seedbed right? Are the fertilizer and seed separation acceptable? Is the seed placed evenly? Is it being sown at the right depth? As[...]
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Fleet management technology is already pre-wired into an increasing number of tractors and combines. To date, uptake has been modest, but the machinery sector expects interest to explode in the next two years.

Manage your farm fleet

The trucking industry is adopting technology to ramp up its strategic fleet management. Is it time for farmers to get on board too?

Reading Time: 6 minutes It’s standard now for truck companies to use GPS and sensors to track operations and vehicle maintenance from a central office. Driver performance gets recorded, efficiency gets analyzed and truck costs get scrutinized, not to mention all the stats that need to get pulled together for government paperwork in the transportation sector. On the farm,[...]
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Man at work on laptop lying in grassy field.

Big data in Canadian agriculture? Not yet

Precision agriculture proponents are convinced that the technology will pay off, but that data collection needs to be standardized and not require farmers’ time during the busy seasons

Reading Time: 6 minutes Watching over the fencerow to see how the neighbour is growing that nice crop is a long tradition in farming. Are we heading into an era where you can look over the digital fencerow to look at the neighbour’s data on nutrient placement, seeding rates, variety selection and combine speed? Increasingly each piece of equipment[...]
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Getting rich from your farm data

Getting rich from your farm data

Data protection isn’t just for geeks. If you farm, you’ve got a pile of real dollars at stake. Here’s how

Reading Time: 8 minutes Farmers do all they can to protect their crops and livestock from pests, diseases and weather. We insure our buildings and equipment. We adopt marketing strategies to protect against price declines. But if you ask what we do to protect our farm data, you’ll usually get met with a blank stare. That’s not good. Information[...]
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Rapeseed field and sun

Lessons learned from the last crop

It pays to do some ‘regressive analysis’ to see if some practice or treatment helped a crop excel even under adverse conditions

Reading Time: 3 minutes Yield results aren’t necessarily the end of the story, says a longtime western Canadian agrologist who recommends farmers get more scientific about how they use those yield numbers as a reference point for examining the past season, and for planning the next year. Increasingly, data analysis will drive crop production, says Rob Saik, who founded[...]
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VIDEO: Driverless tractors and open-source software

VIDEO: Driverless tractors and open-source software

Reimer Robotics takes first prize in Manitoba Ag Days Inventors' Showcase

Reading Time: < 1 minute Matthew Reimer was as surprised as anyone when he was awarded first prize for his driverless tractor system at Manitoba Ag Days in Brandon on Jan. 20, but his invention is worthy of the title. The Inventors’ Showcase winner, and president of Reimer Robotics, has built a system to move tractors – driverless no less, with[...]
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