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Saskatchewan’s largest outdoor farm exhibition is back in full swing, bringing the latest innovations in agricultural technology front and centre just a short drive northwest of Saskatoon.
Ag in Motion kicked off for another year Tuesday, transforming over 100 acres of space in Langham, Sask., into a mini village. Over 600 exhibitors are on site, showcasing everything from the latest farming equipment models to new crop varieties.
One such innovation is PTx’s OutRun, a device that attaches to tractors, enabling them to operate autonomously.
The device helps farmers tow grain carts and turbines across fields, improving efficiency during their short working windows, said Dinen Subramaniam, senior project manager at PTx.
“What we see operators do is let OutRun take care of some of their simpler tasks, like tilling, cultivating or grain cart operation and then deploying their existing people to the more complex tasks,” Subramaniam said.
The kit, being sold in Canada for the first time this year, requires installation by the company and can be transferred from one machine to another, said Subramaniam, adding that it also comes with cameras, allowing farmers to monitor the work being done.
OutRun is among dozens of other innovations on display, offering solutions for present-day challenges plaguing farmers, from rising costs and shrinking margins to managing changing weather patterns.
Saskatchewan-born Crop Intelligence uses monitoring devices and weather stations to provide farmers with insights and metrics on their soil and growing conditions.
“Whether it’s heavy wind, heavy rainfall, how much heat is coming in, solar radiation, we can track that for the customers all in their field for them,” said Alana Serhan, territory business argonomist with Crop Intelligence.
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Serhan says the company envisions a future where its hardware can power autonomous trackers to work in the background for farmers and make decisions on what is best for their land, adding that artificial intelligence is currently used to help collect information and predict outcomes for farmers.
“So helping them understand current conditions, rainfall, and fertility to be able to give them an idea of what yield potential would be,” said Serhan.
Meanwhile, drones are on full display once again this year as they continue to dominate the ag-tech landscape.
“Now the drones are at a spot where they can do some good acreage, so they’re getting bigger, they’re getting better, they’re getting safer,” said Darcy Day, chief pilot of AG Drones Inc.
“They’ve taken a while to catch on, but they’re really taking off.”
Day says drones are being used by farmers for everything from monitoring to seeding, speeding up operations exponentially.
Regulations for drone pesticide use are also advancing, with Health Canada allowing drone technology to apply pesticides already approved for conventional aerial application on June 30.
Farmers require a drone pilot certificate from Transport Canada and need to comply with all federal and provincial laws to do so. Still, farmers are showing enthusiasm towards the development, said Day.
“It’s opening up this opportunity for all farmers now. So everybody’s pretty excited.”
International buyers eyeing new technology
Among the sea of exhibitor tents and farming equipment lining the artificial roads at the annual farming show in Langham, international buyers are at the forefront this year.
Delegates from all over the world attended Ag in Motion’s first day to get a look at everything from machinery to the food and tech products on display, said Chris Lane, president and CEO of the Saskatchewan Trade & Export Partnership (STEP).
“We have people from Mexico, we have people from Pakistan, we have people from India, we have people from the United States, we have people from other countries in Europe. Probably, in total, we’ve got 15 or 16 different countries represented here,” Lane said.
Ag in Motion’s show director says he expects over 30,000 visitors to attend the mini village over the festival’s three days this week to see innovations from Saskatchewan, which are often overlooked by Canadians yet inspire industry worldwide.
“We are making it better, and now other countries are seeing that, and they’re taking that to help their farmers, too,” he said.
“I think the message to the globe is if you really want to see what’s best for dryland farming, come right here to Saskatchewan to find it.”
Ag in Motion continues until Thursday.
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