Reading Time: 10 minutes For over a decade, farmers have been told that a systems approach will bring greater efficiency to their farms. Quality assurance, nutrient management plans, environmental farm plans, big data, precision ag — they’ll all help increase efficiency and might even improve profitability. In the past six months, a new phrase has exploded into the business […] Read more
What’s this about blockchains?
The opportunities for agriculture and farming are amazing. It’s time to get learning
A farmer’s appetite for learning
Continuous improvement: The next generation of farmers is ready to lead
Reading Time: 3 minutes Today’s farmers are confident. They are finding their voices and they are finally becoming viewed as the powerhouses they are. Farmers are hungry to learn and they are also hungry to educate others. They are educating politicians, society and industry on the strength of their operations and on the economic contributions they make. Today’s farmers […] Read more
Our data road map
Is the ADT initiative in the U.S. the right way to put Canada’s farmers in control of their data too?
Reading Time: 5 minutes Canada is awash in agricultural data that’s not being used to its full potential by farmers, researchers, or the government. Now, work has begun to try and improve that situation. “There’s a lot of information that exists electronically, but we need to give farmers control of their data so they can use it and flow […] Read more
Practical data
Brands look to break down the barriers that prevent farmers from integrating big data across lines
Reading Time: 2 minutes When telematics and digital data gathering technologies began appearing as options on major brand equipment a decade or so ago, it was a world full of boundaries — between those digital program offerings, that is. Some brands decided early on to go down the path of proprietary systems. Buy a green tractor, pair it with […] Read more
Why you should be on social media
... it isn’t the reason you think
Reading Time: 4 minutes Technology is ubiquitous on today’s farms, and your social life is no exception. Social media sites like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram allow farmers to share their stories, engage and educate consumers, and connect with and learn from others in their industry around the world. While some current research does point to the pitfalls of social […] Read more
It’s YOUR farm data
… but it’s the companies you deal with that are creating an income stream from it
Reading Time: 4 minutes Long before the social media scandal that rocked Facebook and bankrupted Cambridge Analytica, Kelly Bronson was looking into how data is collected, who uses it and how they are benefitting from it in Canada’s agri-food sector. “For a couple of years, I’ve been doing qualitative research into the social scientific aspect of data collection in […] Read more
Re-energizing electric drive
Today’s concept tractors may never get beyond the prototype stage, but that isn’t going to stop electrification
Reading Time: 6 minutes It was one of those great opportunities that I savour. I was with two very senior executives from one of the full-line manufacturers, and we were having a casual and candid conversation over lunch. We were in a private dining room on the grounds of the Agritechnica machinery show in Germany. Eventually the conversation drifted […] Read more
Cloud farming
The power of deep learning will unlock much of agriculture’s future, thanks to enormous potential of ‘The Cloud’
Reading Time: 7 minutes From the ground, cloud technology is a lot like one of those fast-moving, cumulus clouds you see on the horizon in summer. It seems so full of rain, and rain would be great for the crop, but all the while you tell yourself not to wish too hard. But cloud technology is here. It’s happening, […] Read more
‘Xaver’-ing success
AGCO’s MARS project lands a new name ahead of its market release
Reading Time: 3 minutes Several months ago Country Guide reported on the field robot project called MARS, which is an acronym for Mobile Agricultural Robot Swarms. It began as a joint research project between the European Commission and AGCO’s Fendt brand. At the Agritechnica machinery show in Hanover, Germany, in November, AGCO revealed the project has moved beyond the […] 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
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
