Manitoba company using drones to transform agriculture

May 19, 2016

Drones help farmers save time and money

By Diego Flammini
Assistant Editor, North American Content
Farms.com

Knowing exactly when to apply fertilizers or harvest can save farmers time and money, and that’s the goal of a Winnipeg drone company.

M3 Aerial Productions is in its first year of project Green Gold which is designed to determine the precise times perform certain farming duties.

“Drones are revolutionizing the industry. It’s an interesting thing,” Matthew Johnson, M3’s owner told CBC.

Drone

Fixed-wing drones use NDVI to breakdown photosynthetic light that plants reflect.

Johnson said sensors in the drones pick up the light and convert it into useful data; farmers use the data to determine what needs to go on their fields.

The data can highlight an area with below-par growth, allowing the farmer to apply fertilizer to the specific spot compared to broadcasting fertilizer on the whole field. Johnson said it can save farmers money on chemicals, and overhead planes or satellites.

Johnson said some farmers haven’t totally warmed up to the idea and his company is receiving different reactions but is hopeful that as the technology advances, farmers will support it.

“Agriculture is one of the most prevalent industries in Manitoba that I felt would be the best use of resources,” he told CBC.

Depending on the size of the drone, users may need a licence from Transport Canada.

Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.