Western Fair investing government funding into robots on the farm
Hoeing your row has never been so high tech for farmers.
The Grove agri-business hub at Western Fair has announced that $2.4 million in federal and provincial government funding will be used to fund the development of robots and other technologies in agriculture.
“Maybe farming is going to be done from your comfortable chair in dining room from your laptop, operate the farm that way,” commented Art Veldhuizen. The retired John Deere manufacturing worker was marveling at robots working the field at the Outdoor Farm Show in Woodstock on Tuesd.
Several pieces of automated, robotic farm equipment were on display at the event. “We have robots that are anywhere from a planting robot to a weeding robot, to a harvesting robot out on display at this event,” said Chuck Baresich, president of Haggerty AgRobotics, one of the groups involved in the project. He said that some robots are manufactured overseas, while some are made in Canada.
“We can put some field trials out there, test these robots, and de-risk it for farmers so that they don’t have to make an investment and hope that it works, they can make it knowing that it works,” added Reg Ash, the CEO of the Western Fair Association.
Robotic farm equipment works on a field at the Outdoor Farm Show in Woodstock, September 10, 2024 (Bryan Bicknell/CTV News London)
It’s anticipated that robotic and autonomous farm equipment will help address a labour shortage in the agricultural sector.
“I’ve never met a farmer yet who said they have too many employees,” said Baresich. “Usually they struggle to find enough.”
“This is one way that we can attract people in to farming without necessarily having that deep agricultural base,” added Ash.
It’s still very early days for the technology. According to Baresich, there are only a couple dozen farms across Canada and the U.S. where robots are being put to work on the fields - but he said that’s about to change very soon
“In the specialty crops, the vegetables, the orchard space I think we’re going to see 50 per cent adoption very, very quickly, like under ten years, because the labour challenges are only going to get worse,” he said.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
![](https://www.ctvnews.ca/polopoly_fs/1.7032779.1726006252!/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_800/image.jpg)
LIVE Watch live here: The Trump-Harris 2024 presidential debate is tonight
Kamala Harris and Donald Trump are meeting face-to-face tonight in the high-stakes debate that comes less than two months before election day.
U.S. presidential historian predicts results of November elections. Here's who he says will win
An American presidential historian is predicting a Kamala Harris presidency as the outcome of the upcoming U.S. elections in November.
6 things to watch for when Kamala Harris debates Donald Trump
The fundamental question ahead of their meeting in Philadelphia, one of the highest-stakes national debates in a generation, is whether – and how – the presidential candidates can deliver a compelling message.
Some restaurants have increased their default tip options. Canadians think you should give this much
Despite what the default options on the payment terminal might read, most Canadians still want to tip around 15 per cent, according to a new survey.
Dave Grohl says he fathered a child outside of his marriage
The Foo Fighters frontman announced that he recently became a father again, writing in a statement on his Instagram page on Tuesday that his new baby girl was born 'outside' of his marriage to his wife Jordyn Blum.
$2M home belonging to children's musician Raffi on the market
Canada’s children’s troubadour is selling his B.C. home, which is now up for grabs for $1,995,000.
PwC plans to track employees' location while at work. Is this practice legal in Canada?
As PricewaterhouseCoopers plans to enforce its back-to-office policy by tracking employees in the U.K., one employment lawyer explains whether the practice is legal in Canada.
B.C. man allowed to keep Great Dane in condo where pets prohibited: tribunal
A B.C. man has won his fight to keep a Great Dane in his condo – despite the building’s ban on pets.
'Patently unreasonable': Order for tenants to pay $18K for leaks overturned by B.C. judge
An arbitrator's decision ordering two renters to cover more than $18,000 in repairs following a water leak at their landlord's home was "patently unreasonable," a B.C. Supreme Court judge has ruled.