“This technology is coming — it’s here already, and it’s moving really fast.” – Reg Dyck.

KAP to lobby PMRA to broaden drone-spraying regulations

Biofuels, spray drones and the Canada Grain Act — KAP sets its lobbying goals for 2024

Keystone Agricultural Producers (KAP) is looking to broaden Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA) rules surrounding drones in research. Currently, the PMRA mandates that drones can only be used for spraying herbicides and pesticides if that usage is clearly displayed on the product label. The problem is that very few product labels have been amended and

photo: artistgndphotography/istock/getty images

Training on tap to fill farm labour gaps between ag and tech

The ‘agri-programmer’ may be on its way

Say there’s trouble with the automated GIS and mapping features on the tractor, but you can’t find a tech with enough knowledge to offer help. It’s a simple example of the kind of employment gaps that keep farmers up at night, and that prevent their adoption of new technology, said the manager of an “upskilling”


Farmers will have the chance to ride and drive equipment and see demos of drone technology at this year’s Ag in Motion.

Ag in Motion to feature expanded equipment demos, testing

The outdoor farm show will be held at Langham, Sask., July 18-20

Farmers demanded “real equipment doing real things” and that’s what they’ll get at this year’s Ag in Motion outdoor farm show in July. “Decisions are made in the dirt,” said show director Rob O’Connor, in a May 25 news release. “The show is held outdoors, so there is room to stage very large equipment on-site

Comment: Beware of flash instead of substance

Comment: Beware of flash instead of substance

Self-drilling e-seeds sound exciting, but ecosystem restoration needs practical solutions

A drone drops a small projectile with three wooden tails, tightly twisted into a spiral, and a seed mounted on the tip. It lands on the bare ground and sits there, exposed to the elements, until it rains. Then, the moisture penetrates the wood fibres and the tails start twisting, slowly pushing the seed into


The technology is fairly new, but drones are already being tested for spraying in Alberta.

FROM TOY TO TOOL: The sky’s the limit for farming drones

There’s better software and powerful zooms, and both spraying and seeding are advancing quickly too

Glacier FarmMedia – From flashy toy to just another tool in the tool box — for many farmers, drones have simply become an everyday part of the work they do. “It’s not as novel as it was a few years ago,” said Markus Weber, president of LandView Drones. “For a lot of people when they

Olds College president Stuart Cullum announces a new partnership with Saskatchewan Polytechnic. (Liam O’Connor photo)

Partnership gives Prairie ag students new 800-acre opportunity

Saskatchewan farmland bequest expanded Smart Farm eastward

Students from Saskatchewan Polytechnic and Olds College will be getting more opportunities to collaborate with each other on a large scale. The two institutions have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) which entails both schools working together for five years on various programs, notably Olds College’s Smart Farm operation. The partnership comes as a result


(Onfokus/E+/Getty Images)

Automated ag skills program developed for Saskatchewan workforce

Protein supercluster, U of S supporting non-profit agency's program

Corrected, May 24 — A national skills-building organization focused on connecting employers with “untapped” labour markets sets its webcams this summer on the automated and digital ag sectors. Not-for-profit organization Palette Skills has launched a new eight-week online program for Saskatchewan residents focused on automation and digitization in agricultural production and processing. The enrolment deadline

Assiniboine Community College adds two new ag programs

Drone operators and pesticide applicators latest students at college

Brandon’s Assiniboine Community College (ACC) is adding two new agriculture extension courses to its lineup. A drone flight school will provide 40 hours of online training, followed by a two-day flight school. The program runs from March 15 to May 31, and will prepare students for their special flight operations certificate. A pesticide certification program


Toy or tool? Drones might be cool — but what can you actually do with one on the farm?

How to get drones into fields, doing useful work

The value of the tech has often been oversold, despite potential for useful applications on farms

For some ag-tech enthusiasts both here and abroad, realizing the full potential of drones on farms and ranches requires a better overall understanding of the technology’s limitations in agricultural systems, as well as less marketing misdirection. The financial and time commitments required to accrue, process, and act on drone-derived data has been a significant barrier

A spray plane flies over a swarm of desert locusts at Lemasulani village in Kenya’s Samburu County on Jan. 17, 2020. (Photo: Reuters/Njeri Mwangi)

Drones to be tested against Africa’s locust swarms

U.N.'s FAO testing drones to detect, spray pests

Nairobi | Thomson Reuters Foundation — The United Nations is to test drones equipped with mapping sensors and atomizers to spray pesticides in parts of east Africa battling an invasion of desert locusts that are ravaging crops and exacerbating a hunger crisis. Hundreds of millions of the voracious insects have swept across Ethiopia, Somalia and