NEW FARMING REVOLUTION IS DRIVEN BY BIG DATA

Futurists predict the next food revolution will be driven by researchers armed with big data, to help make farming more sustainable than ever. But no one thought those researchers would hail from the labs, fields and classrooms of some of Canada’s agriculture and food universities — until now. Earlier this month, the universities of Guelph and Saskatchewan received more than $150 million from Ottawa for massive seven-year projects focused on big data and food production.

The University of Guelph’s project is called Food From Thought: Agricultural Systems for a Healthy Planet. Its goals are to use big data to enhance biodiversity, produce safe and nutritious food, and improve animal welfare and human health.

IBM Canada is participating as a key industry partner. It’s helping secure cloud-based storage for the reams of information that will be gathered through super computing, and from precision agriculture technology that has already started appearing on Canadian farms.

In Western Canada, the University of Saskatchewan is leading a worldwide network of water researchers using big data for a project called Global Water Futures. New science being developed there will help farmers plan for crops that can handle extreme climates and other conditions that affect water.

“Floods kill, but also destroy farms and farmland and disrupt agricultural production, while droughts threaten production and the viability of farms and communities,” program leader John Pomeroy says.

Support for these projects is coming from the Canada First Research Excellence Fund, which helps top Canadian post-secondary institutions turn their key strengths into world-leading capabilities.

Thirteen projects worth more than $900 million were funded. Celebrate Ontario Agriculture Week Oct. 3-9, 2016 #loveONTfood