Farmer Collaboration Expands Smart Farm Research

An Alberta farm has demonstrated the vital role played by producers in advancing research at Olds College of Agriculture & Technology.

"It's important to involve farmers because the learning goes both ways — we gain insights from them, and they benefit from what we can share as well,” said Roy Maki, Research Project Manager at the Olds College Smart Farm.

“Collaborating with producers on land outside the College’s borders also provides a more representative sample for our research. This allows us to see the impact of other regions and different soil types on our work, helping us learn more than we would at the Smart Farm alone.”

The Kinsella Farm east of Bowden, Alta., took part in recent trials of the Raven Augmenta Field Analyzer. This technology, now acquired and integrated with CNH Industrial, uses computer algorithms and artificial intelligence to analyse imagery of fields in real time. 

Unlike current methods that use pre-determined maps, the Analyzer uses precision agriculture techniques to make instantaneous decisions about the level of inputs to apply to crops. Researchers used a sprayer equipped with the device to apply a desiccant — a chemical that promotes the even drying and ripening of crops — to wheat fields at the Kinsella Farm.

Desiccants have become popular across Western Canada because they require less time and costly diesel fuel than traditional swathing or mechanical desiccation. The Raven Augmenta Field Analyzer aims to further improve these efficiencies, helping producers save even more time and money by only applying the right amount of desiccant.

This technology is also being researched this fall using a desiccant applied to canola grown at the Olds College Smart Farm. The working farm is a living laboratory on campus for crop, livestock and agricultural technology research spread over 3,000 acres.

Maki said the Kinsella farm, operated by Jack Kinsella, was an ideal fit for the College because researchers were looking for a producer partner to study the Analyzer under different growing and soil conditions. “They happened to have a couple of fields that worked well, and they were very cooperative and interested in this kind of research, so it was quite easy for us to work with them.”

The desiccant was applied about a week before harvest. Although the entire field received the desiccant, researchers established 16 controlled strip plots (four treatments, each with four replications), where they could precisely control the amount of desiccant.

This allowed researchers to gather detailed data on yield and grain quality for each specific treatment, said Maki. “We can also measure things like moisture content and green kernels to see just how effective different applications were.”

Ty Kinsella said he appreciated the work that Olds College is doing to help producers. “They are a very good college for agriculture. They seem to be always staying up with technology and everything that’s new,” Kinsella said.