November 14, 2025. Roy Maki, Olds College
Meeting summary
Quick recap
The meeting began with Roy Maki presenting on a four-year project evaluating autonomous agricultural equipment for broad-acre crop production, which showed comparable performance to conventional methods across various metrics. The group then discussed recent events including career days, symposiums, and agricultural innovations, while also addressing upcoming deadlines for proposals and research funding opportunities. The conversation ended with announcements about student research opportunities and awards for the Northern Ontario Agricultural Conference, along with a reminder about the Royal Winter Fair closing date.
Next steps
Roy: Get back to the audience with additional labor savings calculations and details
Dan: Send email to Dr. Adams after the meeting to arrange speaking opportunity
Lisa : Process call for proposals applications by tonight's deadline
Summary
Autonomous Agricultural Equipment Evaluation
Roy Mackey from Olds College presented on the evaluation of autonomous agricultural equipment for broad-acre crop production over four years. The $3 million project, funded by DOT Technology, Kane, and TD Bank, involved evaluating autonomous vehicles with implements such as a 30-foot seeder, nutrient applicator, and 120-foot-wide sprayer across 8,300 hectares in Alberta and Saskatchewan. The study measured field efficiency, fuel usage, and route efficiency, finding that autonomous operations generally performed comparably to conventional methods, with 2022 being the best year due to improved technical refinements.
Autonomous Farming Equipment Project Summary
Roy presented a summary of a four-year project involving autonomous farming equipment, highlighting key findings and achievements. The project involved comparing autonomous and conventional farming methods, with results showing similar route efficiencies between the two approaches. Roy emphasized that autonomy relies on proper equipment monitoring and reporting, and that consistent routing can improve efficiencies. The project successfully completed over 425 hours of autonomous runs, contributing to agricultural knowledge through two publications and winning an innovation award. The project also had significant public outreach, with 133 demos and 2,200 people touring the robot.
Comparing Autonomous and Conventional Farming
Roy presented on a four-year project comparing autonomous and conventional farming systems, highlighting labor savings and operational differences. The autonomous system required supervised operation due to legislation and technology limitations, while the conventional system had higher work rates but shared the same GPS mapping as the autonomous system. Roy noted that running two autonomous Omnis in the same field was feasible but required careful management to avoid collisions, suggesting potential for swarm farming applications. The project, developed by Seedmaster and later acquired by Raven and C&H, is on hold but maintains a good relationship with C&H for potential future collaboration.
Ag Tech Innovation and Events
The meeting covered updates on recent events, including the Level Up Skilled Trades Career Day and the upcoming Chatham-Kent Ag Career Day. Lisa shared insights from the Waterloo RoboHub Fall Symposium, highlighting panels on robot-human interaction. Ian discussed innovations at Agrotechnica in Germany, particularly Kubota's robotic power unit with advanced sensors. The group discussed seeking new speakers for future events and the deadline for the call for proposals, which Lisa emphasized is tonight at 11:59 PM Pacific time. Dan mentioned ongoing research funding opportunities for 2025 and 2026, as well as requests for participants in research and validation subcommittees. Leah announced an open call for student research papers, scholarships, and innovative farming awards for the Northern Ontario Agricultural Conference in February 2026. The conversation ended with a reminder about the closing date of the Royal Winter Fair on the 16th.
