Farmers embrace tradition with eye on innovation

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This article was published 26/01/2023 (1207 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

While producers often take pride in farming’s tradition, some also have their eyes on the future. That vision was on display earlier this month at the Manitoba Ag Days Innovation Showcase.

Thirty-two products and services competed for first place in each of seven categories: ag technology, agribusiness services, agricultural equipment, agronomics, animal and livestock, farm built solutions and farm safety.

The Edisons of agriculture lined the aisles in Barn 4 at the Keystone Centre to show their stuff to the curious and would-be buyers.

Lois Gray, a Winnipeg business consultant who focuses on innovation, particularly in agriculture, said she checked out the Innovation Showcase and Ag Days in general to find out the latest trends in farming.

“Everybody’s here so it gives you a good cross-section of what’s going on, where the direction is, what’s growing and where are people struggling, and all of those interesting things,” said Gray, whose attention was captured by a drone suspended from the ceiling, at the Innovation Showcase. “It’s a beautiful machine, isn’t it?”

The proprietor of the booth that featured the drone is ROGA Drone CEO and founder Don Campbell.

ROGA Drone is the first company to receive a special flight operating certificate from Transport Canada for the aerial application of pesticides and fertilizer by UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle), and it’s the exclusive distributor of the Forward Robotics U7AG spray drone in Western Canada, Australia and the United States.

“This is quite unique in that it was purpose-built for aerial application of pesticides,” Campbell said. “There’s a lot of rotary drones out there that they’re converting the tanks and pumps on them but this was built for broad acre applications on a farm.”

And what a drone it is, weighing 50 kilograms and capable of being mounted with a spray boom that extends 23 feet.

Campbell said the drone can spray a field while flying up to 100 kilometres per hour. Controlled by laptop computer, and guided by sensors and GPS, it can be programmed to spray accurately in the pattern of the operator’s choosing, automatically return to be refilled with pesticide or other spray, and then return to the air to pick up spraying from where it left off.

Rotors allow the drone to rise into the air vertically like a helicopter. The rear rotors then rotate to propel the craft forward and fly using its wings, like a plane.

Forward Robotics says the U7AG can spray at a rate of 50 acres per hour when applying 10 gallons per acre, and up to 150 acres per hour when two gallons per acre are sprayed. Its tank capacity is 45 litres and it can be refilled in 60 seconds.

A full charge can take one hour, good for 30 kilometres, but Campbell said the drone’s battery can receive smaller charges each time it is being refilled with chemical, allowing it to return to the air after a couple of minutes to maintain productivity.

While Campbell acknowledged the drone isn’t competitive with plane sprayers, Forward Robotics says the U7AG is priced competitively with 80-foot sprayers and cheaper than self-propelled sprayers, has lower maintenance and fuel costs and no yield loss caused by sprayers propelled on tires.

The drone is also good for small spraying jobs for which farmers may be reluctant to drag out ground-based equipment.

Campbell said the U7AG retails for about $90,000, and farmers can purchase a drone through their company. However, Transport Canada drone requirements that include flight training are onerous, so farmers are willing to pay to have ROGA Drone come out and do the spraying for them.

While some of those at the Innovation Showcase are distributors of new products, others are the inventors of their own product, like T-Bin partner David Kosior. He and his partners developed a 10,000-bushel collapsible, transportable grain bin that gives farmers flexible short- to mid-term storage options.

The “world’s first mobile telescoping grain storage bin” collapses from 36 feet to 17 for transport (the magic number for transporting the bin under power lines, so permits don’t have to be obtained).

Kosior said he got the idea for his telescoping bin from his own experience as a farmer. He used to move grain bins as a side business and one of his clients wanted him to move his bins around with his combines. Kosior couldn’t get the required permits fast enough.

“I never did do it because at the time it was really busy and hard to get permits,” Kosior said. “So, that’s what kind of gave me the idea if we could have a 10,000-bushel bin that you can move around and not have to apply for height permits.”

The company’s website states the T-Bin is designed for rapid deployment during harvest, and they provide longer-term off-season storage flexibility. Kosior said farmers can add portable aeration fans and remote monitoring to the bin.

Kosior and partner Pat Beaujot developed the bin on his farm southeast of Regina with some trial and error and by building a mini prototype in the farm shop. Kosior has an agribusiness and mechanical background, while Beaujot has a knowledge of agriculture and patents. They were later joined by Trevor Phenix, who has experience building businesses and engineering knowledge.

Kosior said there are a couple of interested buyers for the T-Bin, which costs $139,000 for the bin itself and an additional $59,000 for a transport and lift trailer, although there are payment plans available.

Even with leads on potential buyers, he acknowledges he feels a little antsy having invested his own money in the project and not having any sales yet. Still, he said, as a farmer he’s used to risk.

“Being a farmer, I’m used to investing money and hoping you get it back.”

Following Kosior’s interview with the Sun, he and his partners received a shot of confidence when Ag Days announced T-Bin the winner in the Farm-Built Solutions category of the showcase.

» ihitchen@brandonsun.com