Farmers have newer and simpler rules for incorporating drones into their operations.

New federal drone rules will be a boon to farmers

Previous rules discouraged producers from using them to check crops and livestock

New federal rules for operating drones will make it a lot simpler for farmers to include them in their operations, says the president of a Winnipeg-based company that trains drone operators. Matthew Johnson, president and CEO of M3 Aerial Productions, said the move is a necessary one. “For a long time farmers have been testing

Norbert Beaujot, founder of SeedHawk and inventor of many seeding equipment innovations, 
observes the Seedmaster DOT at Ag in Motion 2018.

Farmers warming to autonomous farm equipment

Norbert Beaujot says more producers are overcoming their skepticism about driverless farm equipment such as DOT

While men in tractors pulled seeding and tillage implements over the ground at the July 17-19 Ag in Motion show, the DOT autonomous seeder laboured quietly on its own. DOT debuted last year at Ag in Motion, but farmer interest in seeing it operate was still strong this year, judging by the number of observers.


Matthew Johnson, founder of M3 Aerial Productions, poses with his fixed-wing drone, one of several his company uses to provide drone services to farmers since the agricultural branch of his company launched last year.

Tighter drone regs affect agricultural use

Restrictions to within nine kilometres of an ‘aerodrome’ affect much of agricultural Manitoba

Assiniboine Community College’s agribusiness program has grounded most drone flights while professors sort through new regulations around their operation. The new Transport Canada rules released March 16 limit recreational drones between 250 grams and 35 kilograms to within 90 metres of the ground, at least 75 metres away from structures, people or vehicles, to daylight

An unmanned aerial vehicle is used to check a wheat crop.


Is a drone right for your farm?

Uses can include evaluating plant stands, crop scouting and locating and counting livestock

Along with my agribusiness class, I watched, in considerable awe, the beautiful video images of the fields and facilities of a local seed company as they were projected on the classroom screen. The soundless video showed crystal-clear footage taken from an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), also called a drone. Two decades previously, my family received


Australia is finding high-tech solutions are going to take an educated workforce.

Australia is a leader in high-tech agriculture

The country seeks to plug its shortage in 
rural labour with technology solutions

Parts of Australia’s farming industry are rushing to recruit a new generation of tech-savvy graduates as the sector swaps its bucolic past for a future of drones, robots and automated sensors. The push comes as cutting-edge machinery is used to plug a labour shortage on the nation’s remote farms that threatens to derail its ambitions

Matthew Reimer, president of Reimer Robotics and Killarney-area farmer, took first place at Ag Days’ 2016 Inventors’ Showcase for a product allowing farmers to turn their existing tractor into a robot.

Tractor turned robot maximizes farm labour, says inventor

First prize at Ag Days 2016 Inventors’ Showcase goes to a Killarney-area farmer 
for his robotics invention that eliminates need for a grain cart driver

At first glance, it looks like one of Matthew Reimer’s farm crew is, well, kind of short. Actually, there is no one driving that grain cart tractor as it navigates the field and pulls up to unload the combine on his Killarney-area farm. Reimer has programmed it to be driverless. Reimer was awarded first place


Herds well enough, but doesn’t fit next to you in the front seat of the truck.

Border collies headed for the unemployment line?

Researchers at the University of Sydney in Australia have developed a robotic herder which they say does a better job than humans or dogs. A four-wheeled device nicknamed Robotic Rover has successfully herded dairy cows in tests on the university’s dairy herd. “Removing human judgment from trafficking speed will allow us to ensure that cows