A Norwegian sensor that automatically gives farmers data about how level their equipment is running attracted attention at Canada’s Outdoor Farm Show.
The SoilMate Leveler feeds data to a tractor cab and tells a farmer when a tillage implement or drill isn’t running level.
Ole Mørch of SoilMate had one word to describe the response from Canadian farmers at the show in Woodstock: “Huge.”
“They get the concept, they understand the solution, and I already have a list of interested farmers,” the Norwegian company’s co-founder said.
SoilMate showcased its Leveler precision farming sensor designed for implements such as cultivators and seed drills at the show held in Woodstock in September.
SoilMate was part of a Norwegian display at COFS, one of numerous European country displays.
What the Leveler does
The sensor’s goal is to help implements run perfectly level across fields by measuring angles.
“If the angles are not right, the tines on the cultivator will not work at the same depth,” Mørch said.
“The whole point is to measure the field and the ground that you’re working on and then show how the machine behind the tractor actually works.”
How Norway and Canada compare
Mørch said SoilMate sought out several international markets, but Canada is interesting because its agriculture system shares some similarities with Norway.
“The challenges are basically the same; the weather, the climate is not that different.”
The two countries also have differences in their approaches to farming, with one of the biggest being scale: according to the World Bank, Norway has around 800,000 hectares of arable land. Canada has just over 38 million.
Mørch said the scale of Canadian agriculture makes it a good fit for the SoilMate Leveler.
“Equipment is bigger,” he said. “From our perspective, it’s probably even more difficult to control these angles that they are working on. So, the bigger the machine is, the bigger [the] error you will create if the angles are not correct.”
