THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2015
VOL. 93 | NO. 6 | $4.25
Soybean secrets |
SERVING WESTERN CANADIAN FARM FAMILIES SINCE 1923
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INOCULATION UPDATE
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DATA, PRICE REPORTING
TECHNOLOGY
Rise of the field drones Precision ag of the future employs robots to work fields, and it’s here now BY BARB GLEN LETHBRIDGE BUREAU
When the corn begins to grow in research fields used by the University of Illinois, a robot sets to work. It goes up and down the rows, hoeing out weeds and applying herbicide. It is slow, but it works 24 hours a day in most kinds of weather and has few needs except batteries and a computer signal. Welcome to the future — and it’s already here. That was one of Tom Staples’ points during a talk at the Agronomy Update in Lethbridge Jan. 21. The director of Echelon for Crop Production Services said precision agriculture will have new meaning in the future with applications beyond yield maps and variable rate agro-
nomic prescriptions. Most farmers use guidance systems and autosteer, which are promoted by equipment dealers. Staples said mapping and variable rate technology, which is promoted by consultants, has had slower adoption because it generates large amounts of data that requires expertise to interpret and apply. The third wave, data collection and push-button ease of use by farmers, is not that far away. “The real new frontier is to take all of that data and start to be able to ask questions of it and really, ideally get it down to be as simple as what Google did for the internet,” said Staples. “We’re not far away from having that sort of technology and simplicity with agricultural data. I would say probably within five years we’ll have
something that’s close to it, definitely within 10.” Staples acknowledged the recent popularity of unmanned aerial vehicles, more commonly known as drones, but also noted their current limitations as well as their future promise. They are already useful to scout livestock and inspect dangerous or inaccessible places, but drones for crop use are less user friendly. Staples said it takes at least an hour to set up and fly a quarter-section field and another 16 hours to create a usable file from the data. At that pace, a farmer could scout the same field in the usual way and in less time. “There’s a lot of promise when it comes to UAVs but we’re not there yet.” SEE FIELD DRONES PAGE 2
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Marketing tool opens doors for producers Access to more markets information should make price discovery easier BY BRIAN CROSS SASKATOON NEWSROOM
Grain producers will soon have access to a new web based tool aimed at improving market transparency and assisting farmers with grain marketing decisions. The Crop Data and Price Reporting project, launched by the Alberta Wheat Commission, will gather and publish market information on a website designed for primary producers, grain brokers, market advisers and other industry participants. The information is expected to include cash grain prices offered at delivery points across the West, as well as data on grain movement, stocks, regional basis levels and other factors that influence farmgate returns. SEE MARKETING TOOL, PAGE 3
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MICHELLE HOULDEN PHOTO ILLUSTRATION
AGRICULTURE GOES URBAN P17 | HAS PORK PEAKED? P33
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