A demonstration of automation and ag robotics attracted about 170 fruit and vegetable growers to the Ontario Crops Research Centre – Simcoe on Thursday.
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“The day was a chance to showcase new technologies that solve problems in the ag industry,” said Torin Boyle, site manager at the centre. “It’s a partnership between the Ag Robotics Working Group, Western Fair District, and the University of Guelph.”
The Blueline Road facility east of Simcoe was established in 1961 to strengthen the Ontario fruit and vegetable industries within the highly productive zone along the north shore of Lake Erie. Research programs at the centre are focused on fruit and vegetable production but also include alternative crops.
“We have to have demo days like this so farmers can see what’s going on and envision how it can work for their operation,” said Aaron Martin of the Western Fair District. “We’re also creating research guided by that working group to help with return-on-investment studies so the farmer can get that data, bring it to a lender, and show that it makes sense.”
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The Ag Robotics Working Group is comprised of growers, food processors, manufacturers, academia, government, and investors with the aim to adopt ag robotics in Ontario.
Among the technologies demonstrated were an autonomous sprayer for an orchard, a mower, electric autonomous tractor, and a weeding tool.
Chuck Baresich, president of Haggerty AgRobotics in Bothwell, Ontario, showed how Oz, a small, wheeled vehicle that uses an RTK GPS guidance system, can weed a cucumber plot rather than spraying a chemical to accomplish the task, and free up time for farmers to do other chores.
“We can grow anything here,” Baresich stated. “The idea of this (partnership) is to build an eco-system with support from the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food, and Agribusiness, the University of Guelph, University of Waterloo, and the Western Fair District to show that Ontario is on the global map as the place to be if you’re in the agricultural technology space.”
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Representatives of Vivid Machines talked to growers about their multi-spectral camera that can be mounted on a tractor to conduct scans of crops and provide real-time data for thinning, increasing yield, and creating task maps to help determine where to focus labor throughout the growing season.
“This is interesting, and I think all those machines are spectacular,” said Cristian Fresno, orchard operations manager at Schuyler Farms that produces 1,000 acres of apples and 800 acres of sour cherries in Norfolk County. “But the cost is the issue right now. I hope the equipment will come down in price to reach more people.”
Fresno said labor costs account for 65 percent of its operation each season.
“All the equipment to reduce hand labour is a blessing,” he shared. “Now, all the hand thinning is a higher cost and a slow job. If I can reduce my labour cost, it’s going to be perfect.”
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