ONTARIO GRAIN FARMER COVER STORY continued from page 7 SOME OF THE TECHNOLOGIES BEING SHOWCASED INCLUDED: 1. Oz, autonomous weeding The Oz robot from France’s Naïo Technologies is an autonomous weeding platform for higher-value row crops. At Haggerty Creek, it was being demonstrated in a series of small onion plots. Capable of covering two acres per day, the developers say the platform is not designed to replace large weeding machines. Its success in the onion plots was mixed, as it was very effective at tilling weeds between rows, but struggled to control anything growing in closer proximity to the crop. It was also observed a narrower toolbar was needed to fit between the rows as the onion stalks grew. 2. DJI T50, pesticide application The Pesticide Regulatory Directorate’s recent permitting of pesticide application via drones has opened significant possibilities for input application. Standing in front of a DJI T50 drone, Angela Fawcette (pictured at right) regulatory project manager for Corteva, reviewed some of the application challenges still being hashed-out by drone applicators. This includes the water volumes required for adequate coverage, and swath width. “Keep that water volume up. 50 litres per hectare at a minimum,” says Fawcett, also cautioning against flying the drone too quickly while applying liquid products. Elsewhere, the company is assessing the utility of drones in other use cases, such as over uneven terrain, or in utility corridors. 3. Subterra Green, soil analysis A technology initially developed to scan for human remains prior to archaeological excavation, S4 Mobile Laboratories’ Subterra Green is a spectroscopic probe used to detect soil organic carbon and other soil characteristics, such as water content and bulk density. It can go up to 90 centimetres down, and take readings at any point in the soil profile. Technical sales manager Russell Pier (left) says the move to carbon analysis came at a time when carbon markets were beginning to be a popular topic of conversation in the United States. The idea is to supplement, or partially replace, the need for more labour-intensive and timeconsuming soil core sampling. At Haggerty Creek, he and his colleague Morgan Revels (right) completed a 171-probe analysis to a depth of 60 centimetres. “Precision is the name of the game. It’s calculating a lot of data,” says Pier. 4. CredoSense, crop health diagnostic Early-warning disease prevention is the purpose behind crop diagnostic tool CredoSense. The system combines a weather station with soil and leaf moisture sensors to detect plant stress before disease signs become visible. Abdul Halim (not pictured) chief executive officer, says the machine gathers environmental data continuously, generating warnings when conditions are favourable for disease development. Someone can then visit the location and assess crop leaves with a handheld scanner. The idea is to expand the window for fungicide application, and ideally, reduce the amount of product required, either by reducing the rate or improving timing so a single application is all that’s needed. The effective monitoring range of each weather station is five kilometres or less. Many other technologies were also on display, serving as discussion prompts for event attendees. For his part, Baresich shared some of the observations he has made since Haggerty Creek began investing in precision and autonomous systems. While current application technology is “very advanced” and has occurred almost without notice, Baresich says ther next step is “removing the driver from the cab” – but only where it makes sense to do so.
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