Digital agriculture. Precision agriculture. Smart agriculture. E-agriculture. These buzzwords currently circulating in the industry point to a new development in farming: using digital technology to collect, store and analyze data from producers’ fields in order to improve production on their farms. The process isn’t entirely new. For some time, farmers have been using hardware and software systems
Farmers watch crops develop in real time
Digital agriculture developing enhanced tools for farm decision-making
Agricultural digitization and environmental practices go together
Besides helping farmers save money on inputs, digital technology could pay dividends if and when governments start reimbursing producers for environmentally friendly farm management practices. So says Kris Kinnaird, product market manager for Farmers Edge, a Winnipeg-based agricultural technology company which markets a digital platform called FarmCommand. This product, and others like it, could enable
Drought triggers calls for crop insurance adjustments
MASC urged to waive IPI calculations
As a severe summer drought tightens its grip on Manitoba, farmers are seeking adjustments to crop insurance coverage to help them salvage what they can from drought-ravaged crops. A resolution passed at a recent Keystone Agricultural Producers (KAP) meeting called on the Manitoba Agricultural Services Corporation (MASC) to exclude a farmer’s Individual Productivity Index (IPI)
Keep It Clean enters its fifth year
Industry program helps avoid residue problems on exported crops
Canadian farmers are being encouraged to use an industry alert program to keep unacceptable pesticide residues on crops from spiralling into potential trade problems. The voluntary program called Keep It Clean informs producers about which products to use on cereal, oilseed and pulse crops and which ones to avoid so as not to exceed maximum
Potato Early Dying a silent yield killer
Industry network seeks to reduce impact of the disease
A national initiative to reduce the severity of a silent enemy in Canadian potato fields is claiming some early success halfway through its four-year program. The Canadian Potato Early Dying Network (CanPEDNet) is starting to learn more about verticillium wilt and how to deal with this major yield-limiting pathogen in commercial potato cropping systems, said
Unsightly tubers hard to sell
Researchers close in on scab-resistant potatoes
A research project by Agriculture and Agri-Food scientists hopes to develop genetic resistance to a chronic disease in Canada’s potato crops. The project by AAFC researchers in Prince Edward Island aims at identifying precise genes responsible for resistance to common scab disease in some potato varieties so breeders can use them in developing new resistant
Manitoba potato growers look for brighter 2021
Industry coming off three straight challenging years
Beleaguered Manitoba potato growers are hoping for a normal crop this year after three consecutive years of adverse weather, unharvested acres, lower-than-expected yields and now the COVID-19 pandemic. Guarded optimism would be the best way to describe growers’ mood as they prepare for the 2021 crop amid weather and market conditions largely beyond their control.
MCA calls for Whole Farm Research Program submissions
Letters of intent will allow group to select projects to begin next spring
The Manitoba Crop Alliance has launched a major research initiative by calling for project proposals under its newly formed Whole Farm Research Program. MCA is requesting letters of intent for wide-ranging cross-commodity research projects. The deadline for applications is April 15. MCA already funds separate research projects for all of its five agricultural commodities: wheat, barley, corn, flax
Winter grazing not just about winter
Regenerative grazing key to year-round pasture management
Whenever Steve Kenyon gives a presentation on year-round grazing systems, producers immediately think only of winter grazing. Bale grazing, swath grazing, crop residue grazing — Kenyon knows that producers who graze their cattle over winter love to talk about these things. But he cautions that, despite their importance, these methods are only a small part
Don’t let dry weather scare you off soybeans
Growers told the long-term outlook for the crop is still positive
Three straight dry summers shouldn’t dissuade Manitoba producers from growing soybeans, despite a sharp drop in acreage during that time, an industry official says. The long-term outlook for soybeans in Manitoba is still positive, even though the province’s seeded acreage in 2020 was less than half the peak reached three years ago, said Bryce Rampton,
Cyber-Savvy Farmer
