Climate FieldView is a new data platform in the 
Western Canadian market.

New digital data platform on the Prairies

The Climate Corp. launches its Climate FieldView 
service in Western Canada

It’s been a long time coming and in the works,” said Denise Hockaday, Canada business lead for The Climate Corporation. The Climate Corporation, a subsidiary of Monsanto, launched a new data service in the U.S. in 2015 and in Eastern Canada last year. Prairie farmers will have access to Climate FieldView for the first time […] Read more



Keith Coble, of Mississippi State University, says there may be overexuberance in the agriculture technology market. (John Greig photo)

Greig: Farmer trust key to big data’s future

The marketplace for precision agriculture technology is sorting itself out, but it still has a way to go before it will be mature and have predictable uses for farmers, says a U.S. agriculture economist. Dr. Keith Coble, chair of the Mississippi State University’s department of agricultural economics, says we’re in the “overexuberance” phase of technology […] Read more

A new UAV kit and GPS receiver add to Case IH’s AFS product line for 2017.

More AFS equipment from Case IH

UAV kit and new GPS receiver 
added to Case IH AFS product line

Back in February Case IH ramped up its precision farming offerings with the addition of an unmanned aerial vehicle kit that will be available for purchase later this spring. The brand is partnering with UAV firm DroneDeploy to offer this kit. The DJI Phantom 4 UAV will come with an RGB camera, hard carrying case, […] Read more


If someone comes knocking on your door to propose a variable rate perscription, be sure you’re ready to ask some hard questions before you sign up.

Precision ag may not work on your farm

In the field, precision ag does not yet live up to the hype that has surrounded it

If we go into a farm meeting and ask how many are using auto steer almost all hands go up. If you ask how many are using variable rate only a few respond. The uptake has been slow and many techies think that farmers are slow adopters. Guess what folks: if it works farmers are […] Read more

Smart Solutions collects all the data on seeding operations, for example — what and when it was seeded, fertility, in-crop treatments all by field and by soil zone.

So much more than just a rain gauge

Farmers Edge weather info 
service connects the dots of 
precision farming data

If you thought GPS and auto steer was a step forward in farming, check out the precision farming package Farmers Edge is launching this spring in Western Canada based around its on-farm, “field-centric,” precision weather data system. The weather station is just part of an overall integrated data collection package called Smart Solution. Weather information […] Read more


Fertilizing for optimum economic yield requires less fertilizer than fertilizing for maximum yield.

Maximum versus optimum economic yield

Agronomy Management: Often, aiming for maximum yield doesn’t give you the maximum bottom line profit

Is your farm most profitable when you achieve maximum yield or optimum economic yield? There can be substantial differences in the amount of inputs needed for maximum crop yield compared to the economic optimum yield. Applying a higher level of inputs may give you maximum yield but often won’t provide the greatest profit per acre. […] Read more

Faster breeding with the Scanalyzer

Is field-scale robotic phenotyping: the next generation of precision ag?

It’s the world’s largest ag robot, and it could be called Precision Agriculture: Next Gen. Technically, it’s called the LemnaTec Field Scanalyzer. It’s a field-scale machine that looks at individual plants and quickly assesses many agronomic traits including leaf area, plant height, biomass, tip burn and drought tolerance, entirely on its own. LemnaTec, a German […] Read more


(John Deere photo)

Precision ag tech’s link to broadband under study

Crop growers in southwestern Ontario are being asked how their access to high-speed internet, or lack thereof, has helped or hindered their adoption of precision ag tools. Researchers at the University of Guelph’s Ontario Agricultural College (OAC), as part of the Regional and Rural Broadband (R2B2) project, are studying how “current and future connectivity” influences […] Read more

Premium Activation 
feature is available for the Gen 4 CommandCenter on 6R 
through 9R tractors.

More precision ag tools from John Deere

Premium Activation available for Gen 4 CommandCenter

In December John Deere introduced a new precision ag option, making its Premium Activation feature available for the Generation 4 CommandCenter on 6R through 9R Series Tractors. Premium Activation includes the three most commonly used applications from the GreenStar 3 2630 display: AutoTrac, Documentation and Section Control. The 4600 CommandCenter integrated display can be used […] Read more