SaskTel is developing new assets to help tech companies better connect with farmers by providing them with more background infrastructure. The project's full name is The Smart Agriculture Data Hub, and it will provide tech companies with a digital toolkit to help them reach more farmers.
Heather Clair, the marketing manager for Smart Ag, says the program is all about partnering with all the right companies to deliver what Saskatchewan farmers need.
She talks about an example of a company which wanted to bring its services to the prairies, which was helped out by the program.
"One of the examples is a company out of Australia called Smart Paddock. It is a GPS, LoRaWAN-enabled ear tag that lets you know where your cows are. It also gives you movement tracking on them. Say you've got a cow that is usually really active, and all of a sudden it starts slowing down. This technology will actually flag that animal and let you know that here's an animal that needs your attention."
The collaboration to get companies the digital tools they need will be open to expansion, with four companies currently signed up.
Clair feels that there'll be even more buy-in going forward with the project.
"We've got four fantastic companies today, but I think probably by the end of the year we'll have two more if things keep going the way that they are today. We're always looking to add more technologies, but we want to make sure we're picking the right partners as well to collaborate with."
Clair says they're making sure to pick out projects which can increase ROI and decrease depreciation for farmers, all while saving time.
"If one of those three areas or all of them are met by this technology or helped by this technology, that makes me think that it's something that the farms could really utilize and benefit from. So we'll just keep taking a look at the technology and making decisions as they present themselves."
Even though SaskTel isn't an ag company, Clair hopes that farmers will keep an eye on them as the Smart Ag project progresses.
"We're not necessarily the company that you always think of first, but I think there are a lot of really amazing things that we can do to help. We are partnering with farms and not just the companies and businesses that are bringing the tech."
She encourages farmers to reach out to SaskTel if they have a technology problem on the farm that they need help with.