Geeky Farmers – The Agriculture of the Future

What if you could control your backyard smallholding (“potage”) sitting on your couch? This is indeed feasible! Last week the Science and Innovation Network in Montreal teamed up with Prof. Viacheslav (Slava) Adamchuk from McGill University and organized the first UK-Canada Workshop in Precise Farming.

The farming landscape has changed significantly, and entered a new era of technological change to meet and face current global challenges (e.g. rising population, climate variability, etc.). Smartphone applications can help farmers better manage chemical input, watering and robotics, unmanned aerial vehicles can control crop picking, and geospatial technologies are currently available to help farmers monitor and increase production. But what is the concept behind precise farming? Basically, precision farming takes developments in engineering and associated technological innovations and opens up new dimensions of support and intervention, not only in the established disciplines of arable and livestock farming, but also in the emergent areas of urban and integrated farming.

In practice, precise farming changes the way a farmer works:

• Crops are not only harvested, but also mapped using a combination of sensors, digital photography techniques, and geospatial technologies;
• Soil sensing systems provide information on the variability in soil productivity status;
• Crop sensing technology provides information about canopy characteristics;
• Fertilizers/chemicals are allocated more strategically/efficiently by exploiting spatial variations in soil fertility levels according to local demand;
• Agrochemicals can be sprayed site-specifically on an as-needed basis;
• New techniques, such as variable rate technologies including sprayers, spreaders, sensors, controllers, electromagnetic induction methods, geospatial technologies, ultrasonic sensor systems, remote sensing, etc., can be used

This first precise farming event in Montreal brought together Canadian farmers, companies and experts with UK key specialists from Harper Adams University, Cranfield University, a UKTI Precise Agriculture Specialist, SOYL, Soil Essentials, Silsoe solutions, Advance Technology Solutions (ATS-AGCO), the Agriculture & Horticulture Development Board (AHDB), McGill University, Practical Precision, Spray Applications, and invited guests from New Zealand (Massey University), Australia (University of Southern Queensland), the US Department of Agriculture, the University of Florida, and Slovakia.

The attendees worked on different themes but mainly in nitrogen input, limiting factors, soil and water, environmental issues and agricultural automation. By working together, these world leaders in precise agriculture will increase the scope of their individual research and look forward to new advances in a wide range of themes including soil sensing, chemical inputs and environmental challenges. It was also discussed that providing the opportunity for regular graduate student and young professional exchanges will help create a new generation of exceptional multidisciplinary agronomists.

We had a wonderful time together and look forward to more international and interdisciplinary collaborations like this one.