Research centre trials test farm robot usefulness in Ontario's muck soil

At the close of a second season, University of Guelph professor Dr. Mary Ruth McDonald and research technicians Geoff Farintosh and Kevin Vander Kooi shared their progress on the three-year project with Bradford Today, and explained how technology validated in Ontario's muck soils help growers meet the demands of farming.

Determining if the robots are ready for more wide-spread adoption remains a focal point, and McDonald understands that growers may be hesitant to risk moving to a new system if the one they have is already working.

This project is funded by the Fresh Vegetable Growers of Ontario, Haggerty Agrobotics, and the Ontario Agri-Food Innovation Alliance, with support from Picketa Systems and the AgRobotics Working Group. Trials are taking place at the Ontario Crops Research Centre in Bradford, which is owned by Agricultural Research and Innovation Ontario (ARIO) and managed by U of G through the Alliance, as well as a nearby field.

Read the story here: Robots, research offer taste of farming's future in Holland Marsh