Ken Sarauer is steering his combine through a barley field on his Saskatchewan farm—although his hands are mostly off the wheel. Thanks to automation, the machine can harvest rows autonomously, allowing him to monitor real-time data on his crops from multiple screens.
“It’s like lane assist in a car,” Sarauer says. “People worry that automation will take jobs, but it actually lets you do your job better.”
Sarauer’s family farm in Annaheim, Sask., about 125 kilometers east of Saskatoon, is part of a growing movement toward automation, driven by an ongoing labor shortage. According to recent research from The Conference Board of Canada, one-third of agricultural jobs—around 100,000—could become automated within the next decade. From self-driving grain carts to weed-killing robots, automation is reshaping Canadian agriculture, helping farms of all sizes boost productivity.
Continue reading… “Automation Drives New Era for Family Farms in Canada”
