A group of REES students got the opportunity to learn first-hand how local producers are integrating the latest technologies into their farming practices to feed a growing world population during a recent farm tour.
The group of 20 students toured farms in Kingman, Alberta, about an hour outside of Edmonton, and were given a demonstration of an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) intended for agricultural uses, developed by Camrose-based company Prairie Sky. The UAV can generate a map of growth patterns on the land, targeting fertilizer to low growth areas, and reducing spray overlap by five to 10 percent.
Tour organizer Will Pattison '70 MSc (Ag) has been farming in the area since the early 1970s. He noted that "farming has changed more in the last 25 years than in any other period."
He cited precision farming, variable rate technology and advanced software as three major developments.
The tour was hosted by the Kingman Marketing Club, a group of farmers who primarily grow crops (or operate crop farms). They showed the group a variety of crops, including canola, fava beans, peas and oats, and educated the group on crop rotation, harvesting technologies and profit margins. For many of the students, this was their first time being on a farm in Canada.
"As an international student from China, interaction with farmers definitely deepens my understanding of different types of farming and agricultural activities here in the province. It also informs me of how my ongoing research project can be related and be further applied to agriculture in the future" said REES MSc student Haoluan Wang.
Peter Boxall, Chair of the Department of Resource Economics and Environmental Sociology, was quite pleased with the tour.
"The students got exposure to fundamental aspects of Canadian agriculture and were able to form a connection with people on the land," he said, adding that the connections made on the tour will allow students to reach out to producers to obtain primary data and develop perspective on the real world applications of their research.
The group of 20 students toured farms in Kingman, Alberta, about an hour outside of Edmonton, and were given a demonstration of an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) intended for agricultural uses, developed by Camrose-based company Prairie Sky. The UAV can generate a map of growth patterns on the land, targeting fertilizer to low growth areas, and reducing spray overlap by five to 10 percent.
Tour organizer Will Pattison '70 MSc (Ag) has been farming in the area since the early 1970s. He noted that "farming has changed more in the last 25 years than in any other period."
He cited precision farming, variable rate technology and advanced software as three major developments.
The tour was hosted by the Kingman Marketing Club, a group of farmers who primarily grow crops (or operate crop farms). They showed the group a variety of crops, including canola, fava beans, peas and oats, and educated the group on crop rotation, harvesting technologies and profit margins. For many of the students, this was their first time being on a farm in Canada.
"As an international student from China, interaction with farmers definitely deepens my understanding of different types of farming and agricultural activities here in the province. It also informs me of how my ongoing research project can be related and be further applied to agriculture in the future" said REES MSc student Haoluan Wang.
Peter Boxall, Chair of the Department of Resource Economics and Environmental Sociology, was quite pleased with the tour.
"The students got exposure to fundamental aspects of Canadian agriculture and were able to form a connection with people on the land," he said, adding that the connections made on the tour will allow students to reach out to producers to obtain primary data and develop perspective on the real world applications of their research.