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Ontario Corn, Soy Crops Still Facing Production Risks

Ontario corn and soybean crops have shown major improvement with better rainfall and cooler temperatures over the past several weeks, but production risks remain. 

Big corn plants and lush soybean fields give the appearance of strong yield potential that may not actually translate at harvest, Real Agriculture agronomist Peter Johnson said Wednesday. 

“Rain in August makes soybeans, and we are getting rain, so the crop should be excellent,” he said. “But many growers would think, ‘record crop,’ and for some reason it doesn’t always turn out that way with extremely lush soybeans.” 

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Designing a Robotic Berry Picker

Video: Designing a Robotic Berry Picker


Since blackberries must be harvested by hand, the process is time-consuming and labor-intensive. To support a growing blackberry industry in Arkansas, food science associate professor Renee Threlfall is collaborating with mechanical engineering assistant professor Anthony Gunderman to develop a mechanical harvesting system. Most recently, the team designed a device to measure the force needed to pick a blackberry without damaging it. The data from this device will help inform the next stage of development and move the team closer to the goal of a fully autonomous robotic berry picker. The device was developed by Gunderman, with Yue Chen, a former U of A professor now at Georgia Tech, and Jeremy Collins, then a U of A undergraduate engineering student. To determine the force needed to pick blackberries without damage, the engineers worked with Threlfall and Andrea Myers, then a graduate student.