SWAT 004: Landon Friesen on Finding Practical Technologies for the Farm

SWAT Agronomy

Alberta farmer Landon Friesen runs Southman Ag Ventures in Crystal City, Manitoba. He farms canola, wheat, edible beans, sunflowers, and flax with his dad and brother. In this episode, he joins the show to talk about his journey into precision agriculture, how he’s using drones, what he’s looking for in new technology.

“(Our grandfathers) didn't farm with technology. I can just imagine how annoyed they'd be with us to see a tractor worth $500,000 sitting on the edge of the field as we're waiting for it to reboot the monitor so we can drive in a straight line or, you know, do these applications…So I always think about that when we think of efficiency and keeping moving and will this technology make my farm more efficient? Will it help? Or is it just going to cause me problems and delays?”

- Landon Friesen, Southman Ag Ventures in Crystal City, Manitoba

On Today’s Episode:

1:53 - Learn what was Landon’s personal journey that led him back to the family farm

2:49 - Discover how he has made drone technology pay for itself on his operation

5:26 - Hear about how much training is involved in becoming proficient at piloting a drone.

6:07 - Explore Landon’s introduction to technology and his preferences for new technology going forward

8:12 - Discover what technology was not as successful as others on the Southman Ag Ventures operation

9:02 - Learn about how the use of data has always been important on their operation and how the new tools in technology are facilitating that all the more now

9:24 - Hear about how Landon was first introduced to variable rate technology and the process he took to integrating it in his system with SWAT MAPS

16:37 - Landon identifies where his water was accumulating and what he could do with his equipment to help it flow more efficiently

19:18 - Learn about what Landon feels would be the best technology going forward

20:39 - Explore the value in tissue testing and the benefits Southman Ag Ventures have found with the additional testing

22:51 - Hear about where Landon goes to learn about new farming techniques and to improve his practices

Follow Landon Friesen on Twitter @Landon707

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If you have a question you want answered on a future episode, send it to us on Twitter using the hashtag #SWATAgronomy.

The SWAT Agronomy Podcast is brought to you by SWAT MAPS, and hosted by Tim Hammerich.