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May 7, 2021
Spring activities are underway on the Smart Farm. As of May 7, 2021, DOT has completed seven spreading missions (328 acres) and one seeding mission (145 acres with Carlson Ag). Another seeding mission with Carlson Ag is underway!

Olds College Tests New Grain-drying Mobile App for Farmers


Farmers can now monitor their crops on a mobile app during the in-bin drying process. Olds College Centre of Innovation (OCCI) evaluated the system and app through three drying events in the fall 2020 and provided recommendations to the developer to help improve the system’s overall functionality and accuracy.
Top Grade Ag developed this cost-effective app technology that continuously measures water removal rates by monitoring temperature and humidity at the inlet and outlet of the bin while estimating airflow throughout the drying process. Continually estimating grain moisture content during grain drying will help farmers know when the grain has reached a safe to store average moisture content (see screenshot of Top Grade Ag’s dashboard in Figure 1).  This helps farmers dry their crops more efficiently, which means using less energy and lowering overall costs.
OCCI tested the effectiveness and accuracy of the grain-drying app during the 2020 harvest. In-bin drying sensors were installed on four grain bins at the Olds College Smart Farm. The bins were filled with barley and canola harvested from the Smart Farm itself. OCCI conducted numerous tests and trials on the sensors and system. It also used a variety of additional equipment, such as supplemental heating, to determine if adjustments to the algorithm could improve the water removal rate calculation. Overall, OCCI completed three drying events and tested close to 15 truckloads carrying around 400 bushels each. 

Samples were taken from each truckload of grain before and after the drying process. The moisture content of the samples were measured using a Labtronics Moisture Meter at the Smart Farm and verified by the oven drying method. The starting moisture content and desired target moisture content were both entered into the in-bin drying app.

OCCI determined the in-bin drying sensors are highly accurate at measuring air temperature, humidity, and static pressure. It also was able to provide Top Grade Ag with recommendations to improve its air flow estimations by taking weather changes into consideration. This is a big step forward for agriculture and technology.

Figure 1. Top Grade Ag’s In-Bin Drying app dashboard, showing grain drying progress in real time during drying events.

Olds College Smart Farm Interactive Map

Olds College instructor Bob Hoffos has created an interactive Smart Farm map to showcase the College’s crop plan and research projects that have been incorporated into the farming operations. Olds College students were engaged in the development of the map. Using ArcGIS, the interactive map is a one stop shop for the College’s land locations and crop plan

View the Smart Farm Interactive Map

Gamma-Ray Soil Spectrometry on the Smart Farm

The Olds College Smart Farm team evaluated the accuracy of using gamma-ray soil spectrometry to create management zone maps. The team used passive gamma-ray sensors that measured the energy of photons (tiny particles that comprises waves of electromagnetic radiation) emitted from the decay of naturally occurring radioactive isotopes in the soil. 

Every soil contains small concentrations of radionuclides. In most cases, those concentrations are very low, but even natural low levels of radiation can vary depending on soil properties and, therefore, can be measured.  In particular, potassium (40K), uranium (238U and 235U), and thorium (232Th) have long half-lives and are sufficiently abundant to produce gamma-rays of sufficient energy and intensity to be measured.

The team then compared the gamma-ray management zone map with yield monitor data, and did a ground truthing exercise using soil sampling and satellite imagery. The team identified that the gamma-ray method provided accurate delineation of areas with different soil types and minerals, and that in combination with soil sampling, gamma-ray measurement can be used for soil modeling, creation of site-specific nutrient maps, and general soil fertility analysis.

Read the full article here

Thank you Farm Credit Canada

Farm Credit Canada (FCC), long time friend of Olds College and one of the first organizations to support the College’s Smart Farm, has once again stepped up with a $50,000 gift to support the Smart Farm Newsletter and the dissemination of information about agriculture technology to local producers. 

“Olds College is a leader in digital agriculture in Canada and FCC is a proud supporter of their commitment to research and development in this space,” says Fred Wall, vice president  marketing and digital agriculture at FCC. “Sharing knowledge and insight in this newsletter brings information right to the producers who are driving the on-farm changes needed to elevate the digitization of agriculture in Canada. As partners, we share their belief that digital ag is key to our industry’s continued success and look forward to seeing the newsletter in our inboxes.”

The Smart Farm Newsletter is a free online newsletter that is sent out regularly to a growing distribution list of people interested in agriculture technology. The purpose of the newsletter is to share information about the many exciting research projects (and results) that are taking place on the Olds College Smart Farm. 

“On behalf of Olds College, I would like to thank FCC for their continued support,” comments Patrick Machacek, vice president of development and strategy, Olds College. “It is through partners like FCC that we can share our innovations and applied research findings with local producers and the ag sector as a whole. Together we are transforming agriculture for a better world.”

Olds College Receives Applied Research Awards

Olds College was recognized with a Silver Applied Research and Innovation Excellence award from Colleges and Institutes Canada (CICan) for their innovative creation of the Olds College Smart Farm and smart agriculture ecosystem. The CICan Awards of Excellence recognize best practices from institutions across the country, as well as individual leadership and achievements.

“We are delighted to have received a Silver Applied Research and Innovation Excellence Award. Our Smart Ag Ecosystem encompasses our Smart Farm, smart ag applied research, innovation and entrepreneurship programming, and ag technology academic programming to create a place for producers, industry partners, SMEs, students and faculty to look at the opportunities and challenges facing the agriculture industry and investigate solutions to transform agriculture for a better world,” comments Stuart Cullum, President, Olds College. “I would like to thank our peers and CICan for recognizing Olds College with this award.” 

In December 2020, Olds College was recognized as one of Canada’s top 50 research colleges by Research Infosource, and in February 2021, Dr. Joy Agnew, Associate Vice-President, Applied Research at Olds College was named in the Top 50 most influential people in Canadian Agriculture by Canadian Western Agribition (CWA).

A Celebration of Alberta Ag

On April 9, 2021 Olds College hosted a Celebration of Alberta Ag. The live streamed event celebrated Alberta’s agriculture industry and the important role that it plays in our world. Over 1200 viewers from all over Alberta, Canada and around the world, including England, Nigeria, the Philippines and New Zealand tuned in. Below is the Smart Farm segment that was created for the event.

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