Sensor solution: growers use irrigation platform

Jun 20, 2018

New tech allows farmers to reduce environmental footprints and improve yields

By Kaitlynn Anderson
Staff Writer
Farms.com

A Quebec-based company may have a solution for Canadian producers who irrigate their crops.

Hortau, a clean tech firm that serves growers across Canada and the U.S., developed a platform that allows farmers to manage their irrigation systems through mobile devices. The technology uses sensors to collect real-time soil tension data, which helps farmers ensure their crops receive enough water to maximize yields, the company website states.

Through the platform, producers can remotely control pumps and valves in their fields. They can also monitor water levels and flow rates, as well as set up custom alerts.

By using the platform, these farmers could reduce their water usage by approximately 25 per cent, Jocelyn Boudreau, co-founder and chief executive officer of Hortau, said in a release this morning.

Now, the company could reach more farmers across Canada, thanks to a $7 million investment from Export Development Canada (EDC), the release said.

This funding could help the company “gain a bigger foothold in the world market,” Shelley MacLean, principal adviser at EDC, told Farms.com today.

Hortau also received $5.9 million earlier this year from Sustainable Development Technology Canada, a foundation that helps fund clean technologies.

To find out how North American producers have benefited from Hortau’s technology, click here.

Jeremy Bronson photo

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.