Digital Agriculture: Expectations, Reality, and the Future

Feb 01, 2023

Exploring the challenges facing digital agriculture and the future direction for technology on the farm.

By Haley Bilokraly
Farms.com Intern

Precision agriculture, digital farming, digitalization, and smart farming. These buzz words sound exciting for the agriculture industry, but how are they really implemented?

Dr. Alex Melnitchouck, Chief Technology Officer at Olds College, addressed these advancements during the 2022 Western Precision Agriculture Conference and Ag Technology Showcase in November 2022.

Recent technological growth in precision agriculture has been successful with the utilization of navigation, sectional control, field logistics, fleet logistics, and remote sensing tools. However, Dr. Melnitchouck believes the industry still has a desire for further development of technology.

Dr. Melnitchouck shared that agriculture has been the slowest industry to take part in digitalization, the process defined as collecting data and using it to make better business decisions. But this inactivity is not without good reason.

Unlike the media or finance industry, who are leading the digitalization process, it’s not easy to digitize farming. As Dr. Melnitchouck pointed out, “How do you digitize wheat, barley, canola, corn, soybeans, and potatoes? You still have to put rubber boots on and grow physical assets.”

While outlining the difference between dreams in agriculture technology and their reality, Dr. Melnitchouck detailed how technology like satellite imagery, real-time moisture measurements, and field weather stations are more complex than they initially seem.

So, what does the future of digital agriculture look like? How can digitalization in agriculture happen when there are many of variables to consider? Find out by watching the full video below.

Video: Why Invest in Canada’s Seed Future? | On The Brink: Episode 3

Darcy Unger just invested millions to build a brand-new seed plant on his farm in Stonewall, Manitoba so when it’s time for his sons to take over, they have the tools they need to succeed.

Right now, 95% of the genetics they’ll be growing come from Canadian plant breeders.

That number matters.

When fusarium hit Western Canada in the late 90s, it was Canadian breeders who responded, because they understood Canadian conditions. That ability to react quickly to what’s happening on Canadian farms is exactly what’s at risk when breeding programs lose funding.

For farmers like Darcy, who have made generational investments based on the assumption that better genetics will keep coming, the stakes are direct and personal.

We’re on the brink of decisions that will shape our agricultural future for not only our generation, but also the ones to come.

What direction will we choose?

On The Brink is a year-long video series traveling across Canada to meet the researchers, breeders, farmers, seed companies, and policymakers shaping the future of Canadian plant breeding. Each week, a new story. Each story, a piece of the bigger picture.

Episode 3 is above. Follow Seed World Canada to catch every episode, and tell us: Do you think the next generation will have the tools they need to success when they takeover? How is the future going to look?