Page 43 - RealDirtENG2020

Solar panels on an egg barn
Farming sustainably with a technology tool box
As the climate changes, and extreme weather becomes more common, farming is becoming more challenging. Luckily, farmers can rely on technology to help them adapt to ever more sustainable food production:
• New and more rapid plant breeding methods are leading to crops that are more tolerant of pests, drought, heat, excess moisture, and frost.
• An air sampler placed in elds or vineyards captures fungal spores from the air, and gives farmers an early warning about possible fungal diseases, so they can take quick action to prevent damage to their crops93.
• A smart irrigation system for potted greenhouse owers only waters crops when the crops are thirsty, reducing water use, and resulting in stronger, more quickly growing plants.
• Smart imaging technology on sprayers can differentiate between crop plants and weeds, and applies pesticide only on the weeds instead of the entire eld. This distinction can reduce pesticide use up to 90 per cent94!
• Special maps show where a eld “yields” the most, i.e. identifying which spots are most productive. That information is used to create a fertilizer prescription that helps farmers only to apply fertilizer where the map tells them the soil will use it best.
• Farmers are using drones and robots to help identify pest or disease problems or herd livestock.
Running farm equipment
from space
Many Canadian farmers rely on precision agriculture technology to manage eld work
like planting, applying nutrients, spraying, and harvesting. Satellite-controlled GPS on tractors and equipment ensures that fertilizers and sprays are applied in the right amounts to the right places, and that crops are planted in straight, even rows. This precision reduces fuel consumption, and makes sure that nutrients, seeds and crop protection products aren’t wasted.
Burnbrae Farms Ltd.
Growing elds of fuel
Ethanol is a clean, renewable fuel made from plants (mostly corn) that is blended into gasoline. Biofuel is a diesel fuel substitute made from canola or soybean oil and blended with normal diesel. Both lower greenhouse gas emissions, and are just some of the many ways by which plants and plant residues are being used for more than just feeding people and animals.
Chapter 6: Environment, climate 43 change and sustainable farming
Greener energy on
the farm
Farmers are always looking for new ways
to heat their barns and greenhouses, both affordably and sustainably. They’re installing solar panels and wind turbines to generate electricity—even anaerobic digesters
that make methane from organic material, including food waste. Some farmers use the electricity they generate for their own farms and homes; others sell it back to the grid to power homes, businesses, and industry, in urban areas.