13 Story Idea? Contact Paul.Nolan@Farms.com Better Pork | October 2024 ery – such as of feed, for example. Computer vision, video analytics and image analysis can support remote sensing by drones and satellites to assess field conditions and land use. Remote and wireless monitoring enables RFID tags and innovation in movement detection. Sensors can detect water leaks or monitor gas emissions. And work in circular economy applications can convert plastic, crop and livestock waste into green bioplastics and biofuels like ethanol, hydrogen or biodiesel. All panelists emphasized the need for researchers to work closely with end users – in this case farmers – to understand and evaluate approaches and solutions in the context of modern livestock farming environments. Wells was impressed by the audience’s readiness and eagerness to implement and engage in new ideas and technologies, particularly in areas linked to animal welfare and comfort, farmer and worker welfare and environmental considerations as well as business goals. For McLaren, having producers in the room that day was important to keeping the discussion grounded to practical solutions that can be applied immediately as well as longer-term, more blue-sky thinking – and he came away impressed with what could be possible. “It’s important to make sure that we keep farm technology affordable, accurate and durable,” he says. “But what stands out in my mind from the day was Mary Wells asking how engineering students can be engaged and encouraged to look at agriculture as a career. I think there are so many opportunities with technology in agriculture that could encourage young people to consider careers in our sector.” In terms of next steps, both McLaren and Wells believe it’s important that the industry continue to show engineering students the opportunities and technology in agriculture. One way to do that is for businesses in the sector with technology-based solutions to offer co-op placements. ENGINEERING A BETTER FARM Robotics students at the University of Waterloo. University of Waterloo photo
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