A Network of Smart Farms Improving Smart Ag Technologies

Photo Caption: Becky Hutchings, Research Assistant, and Herman Simons, Project Lead for Applied Research Smart Ag, install the METOS sensor on the Olds College Smart Farm in Field 13/14.

Connecting Smart Farms

A Network of Smart Farms Improving Smart Ag Technologies

The Pan-Canadian Smart Farm Network recently launched across Canada. This collaborative network of smart farms is committed to sharing data and expertise that will help farmers, industry and developers better understand, use and develop smart agricultural technologies.

With $1.1 million from the Canadian Agri-Food Automation and Intelligence Network (CAAIN), the Pan-Canadian Smart Farm Network is a $2.9 million initiative being lead by the Olds College Smart Farm and includes Glacier FarmMedia Discovery Farm located at Langham, Saskatchewan and Woodstock, Ontario, and the Lakeland College Student-Managed Farm - Powered by New Holland at Lakeland’s Vermilion campus in eastern Alberta.

“With additional partners come additional opportunities in applied research and education that will help producers maximize technology and data when they’re making those sometimes tough management decisions based on the realities of what’s happening in their fields,” says Dr. Joy Agnew, Associate Vice-President of Applied Research at Olds College.

By accelerating the development, validation and adoption of smart agriculture technologies across Canada, the Pan-Canadian Smart Farm Network will help producers manage their risk of production — improving the productivity and sustainability of their farms.

“Overall, this smart farm collaboration will further catalyze innovation in the Canadian agriculture technology sector and support producers,” says Josie Van Lent, Dean, Agriculture Technology & Applied Research at Lakeland.

The Pan-Canadian Smart Farm Network plans to expand into more geographic regions across Canada and work with many production systems, such as broad acre dryland crop production, irrigated crop production, livestock production, horticulture/greenhouse production, row crop production and value added processing. There will also be opportunities to link the Pan-Canadian Smart Farm Network with other smart farms around the world via the newly formed Global Smart Farm Network.

“Supporting the development of smart farms is one of our research pillars,” said CAAIN CEO, Kerry Wright. “When Olds College submitted this project for consideration, we were immediately intrigued. Smart farms validate and demonstrate the use of innovative agricultural technology in a specific environment, and they provide opportunities to train students enrolled in post-secondary agriculture programs on the latest trends in ag-tech. The PanCanadian Smart Farm Network concept’s additional advantage is its opportunity to link smart farms across the country, thereby multiplying learnings and increasing the value of any data generated.”

Soil Sensor Project

The first project for the network will evaluate the functionality, connectivity and value of data collected from a common suite of sensors measuring soil, climate and crop conditions at sites in three provinces. For Dr. Joy Agnew, Principal Investigator for the project, the collaboration across different agriculture zones and land bases brings more depth to the results of the evaluation, and that will benefit farmers and developers. “Independent validation of ag technologies is critical and so is ensuring that validation is done using more than a single smart farm,” comments Dr. Agnew. “By joining with other partners, we’ll be providing farmers with information that will meaningfully inform their decisions about how and where to use sensor technology.”

Each project site has installed METOS Canada’s wireless sensors and devices that provide data including field monitoring, weather monitoring and forecasting, water management, disease modelling, insect monitoring and nutrition management. Some sites will use the data to make on-farm management decisions like timing of fungicide application, and will evaluate the benefit of using data to manage those decisions.

“Being part of this project builds on our mandate to connect farmers with industry and research partners to find practical solutions to ag challenges,” said Blake Weiseth, Director of Research and Innovation at Glacier FarmMedia Discovery Farm. “We’ve used METOS sensor data in our field-scale projects for a couple of years and now, having access in real time to similar data from other sites in Canada will expand our understanding of its value.”

Visit OldsCollege.ca for more information about the PanCanadian Smart Farm Network and to learn more about its on-going projects.

Photo Caption: METOS sensor, Olds College Smart Farm Field 13/14. Photo Caption: Lakeland College Student-Managed Farm.