Autonomous tractor retrofit arrives in Canada

Nov 22, 2023

This tractor has a lot of firsts to it,” said Jordan Wallace, as he motioned to Deacon, the Sabanto Steward-equipped Kubota M5 111 demonstrated at Canada’s Outdoor Farm Show in Ontario in September.

“It’s the first aftermarket installed Level 5 autonomous tractor in Canada,” said Wallace, GPS Ontario’s advanced solution technician. “It’s the first BX992 Trimble antenna in Canada, and it’s the first Kubota tractor used in autonomy Canada-wide.”

With the Sabanto Steward system, a tractor can be converted into a fully autonomous tool without investing in a new machine.

The Sabanto system can be retrofitted on a tractor, where it hooks into the computer controls, hydraulics and some mechanical operations.

Wallace can program Deacon from an app on his phone or computer dashboard from anywhere worldwide. He can create field grids and do tasks involving specific equipment, as well as track fuel consumption, speed, PTO RPMs and sensor-related information.

“It doesn’t physically matter whether we’re on-site or not, as long as the vehicle is physically within the geofence and field boundaries,” he said.

There is an automatic kill switch if the tractor crosses the geofence boundary, and once finished, it alerts the producer. Sensors detect objects in front and it can be towed from field to field.

During late-summer demonstrations, the Sabanto mowed and raked hay fields while a farmer baled behind it.

These time-consuming labour-eating tasks are the low-hanging fruit of Sabanto’s capabilities. Wallace hopes to run strip-till and planting demonstrations to showcase the potential range of the technology.

“This particular grower we worked with [for the haying demo] was a goat dairy,” said Wallace. “They’ve got to manage the goats, and they’ve got to manage other tasks around the farm. To be able to send this tractor out and have it complete its job is simple. It becomes very energy-focused on efficiency.”

With a base cost of $65,000, the outfit comes with an annual subscription that covers the warranty and a cellular and GPS subscription, he said. Each tractor gets a name for the tracking software.

Wallace suggested the return on investment is two-fold. The Sabanto Steward turns existing tractors into autonomous tools with minimal investment compared to purchasing new ones. Additionally, it provides a labour savings cost of, at minimum, a single employee, offsetting the initial investment and providing a year to a year-and-a-half ROI.

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Video: The Investment Opportunities of Industrial Hemp

The fledgling U.S. hemp industry is decades behind countries like Canada, France and China, but according to impact investor and this week’s podcast guest, Pierre Berard, it could flourish into a $2.2 billion industry by 2030 and create thousands of jobs.

To reach its potential, what the hemp industry needs most right now, Berard said, is capital investment.

Last month, Berard published a report titled “Seeing the U.S. Industrial Hemp Opportunity — A Pioneering Venture for Investors and Corporations Driven by Environmental, Social and Financial Concerns” in which he lays out the case for investment.

It’s as if Berard, with this report, is waving a giant flag, trying to attract the eyes of investors, saying, “Look over here. Look at all this opportunity.”

Berard likens the burgeoning American hemp industry to a developing country.

“There is no capital. People don’t want to finance. This is too risky. And I was like, OK, this sounds like something for me,” he said.

As an impact investor who manages funds specializing in agro-processing companies, Berard now has his sights set on the U.S. hemp industry, which he believes has great economic value as well as social and environmental benefits.

He spent many years developing investment in the agriculture infrastructure of developing countries in Latin America and Africa, and said the hemp industry feels similar.

“It is very nascent and it is a very fragmented sector. You have pioneers and trailblazers inventing or reinventing the field after 80 years of prohibition,” he said. “So I feel very familiar with this context.”

On this week’s hemp podcast, Berard talks about the report and the opportunities available to investors in the feed, fiber and food sectors of the hemp industry.

Building an industry around an agricultural commodity takes time, he said. According to the report, “The soybean industry took about 50 years to become firmly established, from the first USDA imports in 1898 to the U.S. being the top worldwide producer in the 1950s.”

Berard has a plan to accelerate the growth of the hemp industry and sees a four-pillar approach to attract investment.

First, he said, the foundation of the industry is the relationship between farmers and processors at the local level.

Second, he said the industry needs what he calls a “federating body” that will represent it, foster markets and innovations, and reduce risk for its members and investors.

The third pillar is “collaboration with corporations that aim to secure or diversify their supply chains with sustainable products and enhance their ESG credentials. This will be key to funding the industry and creating markets,” he said.

The fourth pillar is investment. Lots of it. Over $1.6 billion over seven years. This money will come from government, corporations, individual investors, and philanthropic donors.

The 75-page report goes into detail about the hemp industry, its environmental and social impact, and the opportunities available to investors.

Read the report here: Seeing the U.S. Industrial Hemp Opportunity

Also on this episode, we check in with hemp and bison farmer Herb Grove from Brush Mountain Bison in Centre County, PA, where he grew 50 acres of hemp grain. We’ll hear about harvest and dry down and crushing the seed for oil and cake.