Guidance systems for tractors are expensive, starting at about $3,000 and rising to more than $15,000 depending on the features and capabilities, but some farmers say they can pay for themselves within a couple of years in the form of increased efficiency and reduced waste. (Lido Vizzutti, AP)

Maurice Koetsier is a third-generation chicken farmer in Listowel, Ont., who is happy to have a day job away from his 20,000 birds — even though technology means he's still at their peck and call.

Should the chickens in his barn, located about 15 kilometres from his home, need anything — more heat, more ventilation, more water or more food — as he whisks across southern Ontario in his role as a social worker, they'll call him.

The chickens, of course, don't dial him on his mobile directly. Sensors trigger a recorded message to let him know about any trouble in the henhouse.

"It says something like, 'zone one is out of range,' but I know what that means," he says. "I could get an e-mail or text alert, but the phone works fine."

Koetsier's barn is a high-tech affair, with sensors throughout to track the necessities of life for his poultry. The system ensures that the louvres in the building open when the fans turn on in summer for ventilation, for example, and that the augers are pushing enough feed on schedule to the growing chickens, which have the run of the barn. The sensors will let him know if a wannabe Col. Sanders tries to break in, and he also has the barn rigged so he can listen to what's happening and to ascertain if, for example, the backup generator has kicked in during a power failure.

"I have been thinking about installing web cameras so I can look in [from wherever internet access is available, including possibly a mobile phone], and see what's going on," Koetsier says.

"I guess raising chickens is something that's in me, but it can't support me so I have to work. I'm there twice a day, but without the technology I have, I'd be tied to the farm and I really couldn't do that."

The technology still can't handle everything, though.

"If I can't get there, I have an agreement with a neighbour," Koetsier says. "But sometimes there's nothing else for it but to get out of bed at 3 a.m."

GPS guidance systems can help a tractor follow a precise path and pattern through a field, helping farmers avoid crop damage and avoiding wasteful overlap when planting and spraying. (Ruth Bonneville/CP)

Agricultural revolution

Koetsier isn't the only farmer combining Old World values with New World technology. In fact, agriculture is undergoing an information technology revolution. Cattle farmers are tracking their livestock with radio-frequency identification tags that are faster to read and much more accurate than traditional tagging systems. Others are finding that computer-guided equipment means they spend more time in the farm office monitoring self-guided sprayers than in the field.

In drought-plagued Australia farmers are using WiFi (wireless) networked sensors to track soil moisture levels and share the data with their neighbours. This helps them ensure they only water their crops with the precise amount needed and avoids wasting a precious resource.

In Argentina, farmers are using the ultimate Canadian technology, the BlackBerry. Food distributor Compania Argentina de Granos (CAGSA) realized its 4,000 producers in the fields were just as likely to need mobile communication as any business executive. It equipped them with BlackBerry handsets so they could stay in touch and use the internet features to check commodity prices, look up weather reports and be more efficient when ordering trucks to transport their harvests. The BlackBerrys allow them to harvest their crops in advance of bad weather or to decide to hold off if commodity prices are dropping.

"The BlackBerry solution meant they could always be in touch," said CAGSA chief operating officer Gaston Kauer. "Not needing a wire to send e-mail or make a phone call was a huge advantage because they work in the middle of nowhere and had been totally disconnected until they got their BlackBerrys."

Helping hand on the wheel

Back in Canada, at Landale Farms near Calgary, Brent Dugdale's 7,000 acres of canola, wheat and barley are the product of technology-assisted farming. On board eight of his tractors and combine harvesters are Global Positioning System (GPS) units that save him money, time and — perhaps most importantly — stress.

With a massive spread to prepare, seed, fertilize and harvest, the drudgery of driving a tractor is exceeded only by the physical buffeting of the operator as the machine bumps across uneven terrain. Drivers fight to stay awake and mentally alert enough to maintain a straight line from one run to the next. If the runs overlap too much, seed is wasted. Too much fertilizer means burned crops, lower yields and extra costs for material. Letting the wheels roll outside the established track results in crushed crops.

"Before this GPS system, you'd get out of the cab absolutely exhausted and drained after 12 hours or 16 hours, or more if you were trying to beat the weather," Dugdale says.

GPS-guided tractors are not only more cost-efficient, they're faster, he says.

"If I have a 30-foot-wide machine behind me spraying fertilizer and I overlap just a foot, that's three per cent per pass wasted, or about $100 of crop an acre for 7,000 acres," he said. "Add it up. It doesn't take much. With this GPS, they've got it down below a centimetre of overlap. It will also get back into the same wheel tracks I drove when I planted, so I'm not driving over my crops."

The guidance equipment is expensive — starting at about $3,000 and rising to $15,000 — but Dugdale figures it'll pay for itself in a little under two years.

Some systems also have auto-steer capability, taking much of the pressure off the operators and allowing them more time to attend to other tasks. It's also safer, Dugdale says, noting it's not uncommon to hear about farmers falling asleep at the tractor wheel and driving across highways.

"It's really good to see the guys get out of those cabs with a smile on their face instead of pain," says Dugdale.

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