Great Lakes Greenhouses Inc. is taking the matter to the Normal Farm Practices Protection Board. The company alleges the Municipality of Leamington bylaw is restricting a normal farm practice. “What has transpired is Great Lakes and I presume there to be a fair number of others that will take this to a situation called the Normal Farm Practices Board because lighting is considered a normal farm practice as it is writing in the regulations,” says Joseph Sbrocchi, general manager of the Ontario Greenhouse Vegetable Growers Association. Sbrocchi says the greenhouse sector wants to work with municipalities to come up with a solution that is right for all.
Ontario greenhouse funding supports projects in autonomous growing
April 14, 2021
Earlier this year, the Ontario government announced an investment of over $3.6 million in 12 projects to help develop new technologies, recover from the impact of COVID-19 and enhance greenhouse grower competitiveness and innovation.
One of these approved projects was for an initiative on autonomous greenhouse management, a collaboration between Ontario Greenhouse Vegetable Growers (OGVG) and independent Dutch artificial intelligence specialist, Blue Radix.
According to the list of approved projects, this project is receiving $148,100 to customize Blue Radix’ autonomous greenhouse management system, Crop Controller, to the needs of Ontario growers.
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“Crop Controller is a service: data models and algorithms control the greenhouse installations 24/7, supported by off-site Autonomous Greenhouse Managers with in-depth knowledge about crops, energy and data. With autonomous s
WINDSOR, ONT. The province is investing more than $3.6 million in greenhouse growers to help recover from the COVID-19 pandemic and boost competitiveness and innovation. Funding is being provided through the Greenhouse Competitiveness and Innovation Initiative to support 12 “innovative” projects to help develop new technologies. During these exceptional times, Ontario s greenhouse operations have played a critical role in making sure families across the province can continue to put food on their tables all year long, Ernie Hardeman, minister of agriculture, food and rural affairs said in a news release. That s why we are investing in projects that will help greenhouse businesses improve productivity and adopt new technologies to address labour challenges and better position greenhouses to recover from COVID-19 faster.