Ag Innovation

Over the past several decades, Agriculture has benefitted from significant technological advancement. The chemical revolution of the 1970s and biotechnology revolution of the 1990s are just some examples of past advancement that allowed growers to dramatically increase their production.

Western Canadian agriculture is now forging ahead with the next revolution: digital ag.  The incredible developments in digital technology that have dominated the 21st century allow farmers to quantify never before measured agronomics, acknowledge field and seasonal variability, optimize logistics and farm tasks, and improve farm economics.  

This will enable growers to make better decisions based on data, knowledge, science and probabilities; rather than emotion, gossip, neighbors, marketing and fear.

HERE ARE SOME OF THE EXCITING ADVANCEMENTS AVAILABLE TO GROWERS!

 

VARIABLE RATE PLANTING AND FERTILITY APPLICATIONS

 

SCOUTING AND OBSERVATION DATA MANAGEMENT

 

ON-SITE WEATHER STATIONS AND SOIL MOISTURE MONITORING

 

TASK MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE

 

INPUT APPLICATION RECORD KEEPING

 

PRESCRIPTION-BASED SPRAYING

 

YIELD DATA MANAGEMENT

 

SATELLITE AND AERIAL IMAGERY

 

COST OF PRODUCTION ANALYSIS

 

DECISION SUPPORT SYSTEMS AND MODELLING

DATA COLLECTION SERVICE

Today’s modern farm can produce a daunting amount of data. There is often a missed opportunity for growers to build a database on their own farm. Without someone actively planning, capturing, cleaning, organizing and managing this data, it’s often completely lost in the hustle of farm operations.

G-Mac’s AgTeam is exploring the concept of implementing a service to help enable our customers to capture and utilize their farm data. This would include:
  • Designing a digital strategy
  • Identifying specific data types and software that will be utilized
  • Equipment and monitor setup of proper field documentation and application info
  • Executing during the season and inputting and organizing records
  • Post calibration and cleaning of harvest data
  • Year-end reports, cost of productions analysis and profitability mapping
  • Ensuring data is accurate, consistent and available to access at anytime

PRESCRIPTION SPRAY SERVICE

Agriculture is starting to see variable rate approaches being applied to in-crop spray applications. It seems that the top dress, fungicide, desiccation, and pre/post-harvest application will be the target of the next generation of variable rate. This is due in part to the accessibility and quality of the technology that these approaches are based on. The R7 Tool enables G-Mac’s AgTeam to look at multiple in-season satellite images and build prescription files based off plant biomass. Consider spraying only the best parts of your fields with a fungicide application or increasing desiccant rates in thicker canopied spots in lentil fields.

This service includes:
  • Working with G-Mac’s AgTeam to choose representative satellite images
  • Ground truthing and revisions to ensure rates and zones are accurate
  • Building and loading of prescription files
  • Technical support

VR FERTILITY SERVICE

While field size continues to grow in western Canada, it is becoming increasingly obvious that there are areas of the land that require different management practices than others.  There are a vast number of approaches to this problem, all ranging in intensity and cost. G-Mac’s AgTeam feels that the soil is the source of a good portion of this variability and are currently exploring different approaches to measure and tailor fertility applications to this variability. Grid sampling is the highest resolution, un-biased assessment at how soil nutrients and characteristics spatially change throughout the field and will likely serve as the foundation of our approach.  Also, our approach will focus heavily on yield data, as we feel this is one of the most important measurements of success and is integral to assessing the validity of our approach.
If you choose to work with G-Mac’s AgTeam to address your field variability, you can expect:
  • An intensive soil sampling protocol that exposes spatial variability across all testable nutrients.  This may also include topographical and electrical conductivity mapping as well.
  • Customized fertility recommendations for each zone
  • Prescription file generation and loading
  • A rigorous data capture protocol that includes planting data, as-applied data, harvest data and operational costs.
  • Year-end analysis and reporting of management zones, nutrient responses and cost of production analysis.

FIELD MOISTURE SERVICE

Moisture is the most common yield-inhibiting factor for dryland farmers. Measuring the in-season potential for a field to produce is critical for making relevant management decisions.

G-Mac’s AgTeam can leverage data from on-site sensors to drive in-season decisions such as: top dressing, fungicide, crop planning, and more. This helps to visualize water-driven yield potential and how it reacts to weather events. Soil sensors give insight into rooting depths and crop health. The raw data is interpreted and summarized in easy to understand graphs.

Our goal is to ensure the environment is ALWAYS the limiting factor and not your management decisions.
 

OUR TECH PARTNERS