UM-RAE

Uduak Edet: 0:17

Hello, and welcome to the University of Manitoba Resources for Agriculture Engineering Podcast. I am your host Uduak Edet, an agricultural research extension engineer in the Department of Biosystem Engineering. This podcast is your gateway to discovering the latest innovations research and practical solution in agricultural engineering. Our mission is to forge meaningful connections with the agricultural community and help farmers address their engineering needs and aspiration. Today I am joined by Jason Bourcier, who is the operations manager at Glenlea Research Station in Manitoba . Before we discuss electric tractors, please tell us about yourself.

Jason Bourcier: 0:59

Sure. Hi, Uduak. Thanks for having me. So it's, I guess a bit of a long story, but I'll try and make it as brief as I can. So I'm from a small agriculture community in southern Manitoba called St . Jean Baptiste. It's actually where I went to high school, and after high school, I jumped into university of Manitoba and University one as students do nowadays. And I had an interest in jumping into architecture, so I went into architecture and just, I don't know , I just didn't see myself there. I didn't feel like I was in the right place, so I decided to stop university, get into the workforce a little bit. And during that time I worked, you know, on the side of business, some construction, concrete side. And then agriculture. I grew up on a grain farm. My grandpa was a, a grain farmer. So during that process, you know, I had some time to reflect. I also got married, had two children, which complicated the situation of wanting to go back to school. But I gathered the courage and went back to school later in life, I guess. So it was probably closer to 30 by that time. And kind of started in agriculture because I was comfortable there. So I moved credits over to agriculture got into the faculty, but still kind of unsure of where my career path would take me. So I actually... I always naturally enjoyed working with animals. And we always had animals on the grain farm more for hobby. I jumped into a work experience programs that animal science was offering at the time I worked in the dairy under this program. And just like, I really enjoyed it. I learned a lot, you know, was working everyday with the animals, or not every day , I guess I was a student at the time, so it was, I got more of a part-time basis and then full-time in the summer. So I really enjoyed the program that animal science offered at the time. And then I kind of figured out, okay, that's the direction I'm gonna go , animal science. So I started taking courses towards my animal science degree, just because I was also working full-time. It was challenging to take courses during the day, so I looked at different programs and found a program actually in arts, it's called a Bachelor of Arts and Integrated Studies. So I was able to work towards that degree with a major in animal systems. So it's still kind of on a similar path, but maybe missing some of the more technical courses on the science side. So I was... I finished up that degree and as I said I was working full time , so that's where I got a lot of experience. And that was mainly at the Glendale Research Station , because after the work experience program, there was some vacancies there. So I figured since I kind of had that interest in working with animals, I would work here, gain some experience, go back to school, get my degree. So I worked about 10 years in the swine research facility. And then from there, I worked in... I managed the laying hen facility, which was on campus at the time. Right now we have it at Glenlea. And then after the poultry, I worked as a research coordinator and then moved into operations manager in 2019. So that's a bit about my background. You know, I've got... my two kids keep me very busy, so there's not a lot of time for, you know, hobbies and things like that. But , you know, I love the outdoors and sports and fishing, that sort of thing.

Uduak Edet: 5:16

That's good. You have a kind of like broad experience. Just curious, how's your day to day ? What's your day-to-day duty like as an operation manager, or tell us a bit about the Glenlea Research Station, and what you do there ?

Jason Bourcier: 5:35

Right. So the day-to-day in my position is very different to when I started working directly with the animals. Now you know, I still get to interact with the animals, but it's more... it's pretty rare. Actually, right now I'm more interacting with members of my team. So under the umbrella of the Glenlea Research Station we have about 1200 acres of land , our dairy facility and... is a 55 head milking herd, like robotic herd. We have the layer facility , the swine facility is 150 sow, fair to finish. And we have our feed mill. So each of those areas have managers. So I'm meeting regularly with those managers. You know, we're setting goals, targets , monitoring progress , planning a lot. And then of course there's the financial aspect of it as well. But I'm basically supervising the staff at the research station. And then I work closely with Kate Cummings, the Farm and Food Discovery Centre manager. Bruce D. Campbell Farm and Food Discovery Centre. So we work closely with them because any visitors that they have , the visitors are coming through the station here. So occasionally, you know, we will participate or collaborate with them on tours. And so helping them, you know, bring people through and explaining, you know, what they're seeing in front of... in our public spaces where visitors can see inside the operations.

Uduak Edet: 7:23

Okay. So what kind of agricultural machine do you have on at the Glenlea Research Station?

Jason Bourcier: 7:32

We have many different types and sizes of ag equipment from , UTVs - like side-by-side to skid steers to, you know, smaller garden tractors, obviously lawnmowers, and then front end loaders as well. And then a variety of implements that we use. And then most recently we added to our... this summer we added to our fleet an electric tractor, which is the Monarch , MKV is what it's called. So we've been figuring out how to best utilize this machine on our current operation.

Uduak Edet: 8:17

Okay. Can you describe the features of these electric tractors?

Jason Bourcier: 8:25

Yeah. So it is a Lithium Ion electric tractor. That's a battery. It has... it does have an autonomous operating feature, which requires a subscription. So currently we don't have that subscription, but it does have that feature. It has a smart screen actually on the tractor, which allows different users to log in, and then it'll track data for each user. And you can also save different implements , so if you have one user that uses mower or tiller lots, and then another one that just hooks up to a trailer, you can set different parameters and save them according to what implement or trailer you're, you're gonna hook up to. So it has at the back of the tractor, so this is more of a... I would consider one of our smaller tractors. It's considered a 40 horsepower tractor, and that's the power takeoff , horsepower or PTO. The engine itself, the peak motor power can hit 70 horsepower. So it does have the 3 point hitch, like our other diesel tractors that would be that size. And it has hydraulics, it has a drawbar , which means that you can use different types of implements like mowers, tillers, sprayers, different disc carrows or cultivators. You can pull trailers , put a blade on it at the front so you can push feed up for dairy cows or beef animals, you can use it for manure spreaders. And it does have a port for exportable power as well.

Uduak Edet: 10:14

Okay. What infrastructure did you need when you, when you guys got the, the electric tractor?

Jason Bourcier: 10:24

It actually is pretty minimal. Of course, you'd always like to park your equipment indoors to protect them from the elements, but it's... that's more of optional. What's required is you need a home base for your tractor where it... you have a charger, so there's a few different, there's quite a few chargers to pick from. We selected a 40 amp flow charger for this specific tractor. So the 40 amp, you can get up to 80 amp, I believe, which will charge the tractor faster. But typically we were fine with the 40 amp , because, well , we charge the tractor overnight , so it would take 10 or 12 hours or some around that to do a full charge, so we can just charge it overnight and then, and then it'll be ready to go in the morning.

Uduak Edet: 11:16

Okay, what was your general perception of the electric tractor when you first , either drove it or saw it?

Jason Bourcier: 11:26

Yeah, I thought it was really cool. I mean, it's got a futuristic look to it , so the appearance was very unique. It really fits where technology-wise, things are going. So operating the tractor , my perception was good. I was excited to use it. And when it came to operating, it is very similar to a diesel tractor in terms of its controls. I would say the main difference was that, and you can get this between different brands of diesel tractors too, like the sensitivity of your throttle, or of your accelerator pedal. But this electric tractor, in particular, is very sensitive. Once you get used to it, it's a good thing that it's so sensitive. I like it better and it's quiet compared to a diesel tractor as well.

Uduak Edet: 12:30

Okay. Now, since you run a farm animal farm, is it quite an advantage compared to a traditional diesel tractor?

Jason Bourcier: 12:46

Does it have an advantage? I think working around, so we haven't used it to its potential yet, but absolutely. The more quiet when you can work around animals, the better. So , the power output of the machine is quite good . It has excellent torque, which is, you know, which allows it to... when you're using an implement to kind of stay quiet. Of course if you're increasing the power, your RPMs, then it does get louder. But it's not as loud as a diesel tractor. So it's great for working around the animals, but it's also good for the operator and the hearing protection that would be required to operate that piece of equipment.

Uduak Edet: 13:34

Okay. So what type of operations have you used the electric tractor so far?

Jason Bourcier: 13:42

Well I mentioned the kind of the different implements that you could use for it, and currently we don't have any implements for it, but the ones that we'd be interested in would absolutely be a mower, tiller and a front bucket for it. So that's what we're looking to get for this tractor. It is designed more for vineyards and that type of work out in California, but it does have really good use around a dairy operation as well. So currently we're only using it to pull trailers. So we , we have what we call a people mover trailer. So this would be for our tours at the Bruce D Campbell Farm and Food Discovery Centre. So they would... we can take up to 30 guests on the people mover trailer and pull them around to different stops that we have or different stations at the farm.

Uduak Edet: 14:47

Okay. So what's your plan? This coming summer or this coming season? What's the intent to use the electric tractor for?

Jason Bourcier: 15:02

So the intent for this summer is we want to continue using it for tours. And that one of the reasons for that it's a very good conversation builder with the public that's coming through. Like I said, futuristic looking zero emissions, so it's a good showcase for the agriculture in industry and the way things are moving. But we also, I would like to use the 3 point hitch and use it for mowing as well this summer. So its main purpose will be to continue for tours. And another bonus is that it's quiet, so you can actually talk to the guests as you're driving as well. Whereas before you'd have to basically turn off the tractor. So it works very well for tours, but yeah, I hope to use it for mowing as well this summer.

Uduak Edet: 16:05

Okay. So what do you see as the biggest advantage of the electric tractor?

Jason Bourcier: 16:15

The biggest advantage of the electric tractor, I think hands down is zero emission, right? That's one thing that can't be replicated with a diesel tractor. I mean, it has a lot of other cool features , like the smart screen, the cameras, it has cameras , basically like a 360 camera, you can see all around this machine. So it has very good visibility, but those are things that can be replicated with a diesel tractor as well. So I think hands down is the zero emissions. And also , mobile power generator, I think that's been a huge plus for us because working with animals we have a big footprint with all the facilities that we have, and there's not power everywhere. So some... previously we'd have to either hire somebody with a mobile unit to come weld if it's in an area of the farm that we can't access or use extension cords. So this basically eliminates that. We can plug a welder right into the tractor, so it's a mobile generator and weld any penning or anything like that that we have that needs repair on the farm.

Uduak Edet: 17:36

Okay. What in terms of the electric tractor, how has it actually impacted your workflow compared to when you didn't have it? How has it actually affected your workflow, whether it's in terms of labor management maintenance routine?

Jason Bourcier: 18:04

Yeah, so I think it's completely replaced one of our diesel tractors of comparable size. So we had, previously we had two 40 horsepower diesel tractors. So it's replaced one of those. So it's the workflow, I think it's been seamless because it's very similar to operating a diesel tractor. Of course, with any new piece of equipment, there's some staff training required, but if they've... if the staff have operated a diesel tractor of that size, it was really no challenge at all to get them to adjust on the labor management side. I don't think we've seen any change yet because we've, we haven't used it to its potential. But we have seen, you know, a decrease in the kind of like the end of season maintenance that's required for our equipment because obviously it's battery operated, there's less fluids to change at the end of the season. And it did decrease our fuel usage. So we did replace one tractor, right? So we had about 480 liters of diesel fuel that we didn't have to purchase over the last year because of the electric tractor.

Uduak Edet: 19:29

Okay. So did you at any point in time do like a cost analysis to see how much electric consumption you did versus the diesel it end up saving?

Jason Bourcier: 19:45

Because we didn't, you know... we only used it for tours, so it's not used a lot during the day. We didn't do that. We haven't done that comparison yet. I think we could certainly do that in the future, but mainly with our tours the tractor is going from point, you know, basically that's four stops along a tour route and a tour could last all afternoon. And when they're stopped, you're not using any energy. So we don't really need to charge it very often. The most we've... the longest we've ever had the tractor continuously working was 4 hours, and at the end of the four hours we still had 80% of battery. So I'd imagine it would be pretty favourable if we did a cost analysis, but we haven't done that yet.

Uduak Edet: 20:45

Okay. How about your other team members or other staff, what was their own perception about the electric tractor?

Jason Bourcier: 20:57

I think we're excited about it . We have 13 full-time staff here, and most of them , well... all of them have seen it and maybe half of them have driven it. I think the feedback has been good. They like the sensitivity of the machine , and the cameras. I've heard that from most people just because, especially the rear camera has... it's very clear and you can see quite a ways . So when you're carrying 30 people behind you in a trailer, you know, you don't have to turn your head all the time, you're just... you can watch your screen. So that was a big plus. And then the decreased noise generated from the tractor was also mentioned quite a few times.

Uduak Edet: 21:50

Okay. Do you have any concern about using the electric tractor?

Jason Bourcier: 21:57

I don't have any major concerns about using the electric tractor. I think the only thing that comes to mind would be , once we get it going, for some of its other tasks like mowing maybe the concern would be longevity of the battery. But at this point I've been impressed with the battery and how long it's lasted. We've never really gotten close to running out of battery power. The tech components, you know, as we've seen in some of our livestock facilities, as things get more advanced and everything is data driven . You're not sure on how long these tech components last and they're usually quite expensive. So that is a bit of a concern moving forward. And agriculture, especially with animals, it can be messy, right? You're cleaning pens and for biosecurity, because these pieces of equipment could be used in multiple areas of the farm, so we have to wash them. And this particular model of electric tractor, I'm not sure if they're all like this, but you can't pressure wash it because of the technical components. So it's recommended to use like a garden hose with soap and water to wash the tractor. So it takes a little more time to do that. So those would be my only concerns.

Uduak Edet: 23:42

Okay. So do you think electric tractor is the future of farming? Why or why not?

Jason Bourcier: 23:50

I guess that's the question right now. It's a hard question to answer. I think it certainly has its place. All industries, you know, whether it's dairy, pork or poultry, everybody's looking at decreasing their environmental footprint. So this is a tool that can certainly help do that. And especially on the smaller equipment side. On the smaller equipment side, I don't think there's any concern. I think we can replace diesel or gas with electric on the smaller equipment side. So you know, anything from like this size tractor to smaller ones, like a lawn mower , I think the largest tractor that's out there right now for electric is just shy of a hundred horsepower. So that would be, you know, twice the size of this one. So yeah, I think there's a place for electric tractors in the future. I think the concern that I would have is when you get to those really large pieces of equipment that are used where you require a lot of horsepower and maybe we'll see more of a hybrid version where tractors can use less fuel to decrease your emissions, but also use , you know, electric battery or electric. And that could be on the tractor side or it could even be on the implement side. Because if the implements have, you know, electric power to it, that will decrease the, the size of tractor that you need. I think there's lots of options. There's, you know, a lot of research or testing to do before we're at that point, but I think it certainly has potential and I definitely like what I've seen so far from the electric side.

Uduak Edet: 25:46

Okay. You mentioned a lot about field work, using the electric truck for field work . What part of animal production do you think the electric tractor would be most suited for? Or you can actually use it for...

Jason Bourcier: 26:05

Animal production?

Uduak Edet: 26:07

Like I know that you use the skids steers there to kind of lift, manually. It's a bit smaller than the electric tractor you have, but just thinking if there's an option to use it or what other kind of operation do you think you can actually use it for?

Jason Bourcier: 26:26

Our heifers and dairy cows would be fed a few times a day, and this is in an outside barn, basically. So they're floor fed and throughout the day they're eating their feed and their feed gets out of reach, right? They have to stick their head through the head gate to eat. So that's one area where we could use that tractor because they can put a blade on the tractor and then this tractor can just , you know, drive the feed alley and push up the feed so it's more accessible to the cows. And if you're using that autonomous feature, you know, you can just set it up so that it can do that periodically throughout the day. I think that would be a really good benefit. And then this particular tractor, I think the challenge has been with maneuvering. I'm not sure if it would translate to other electric tractors, but this one in particular, if you wanted to use it for cleaning an animal pen, it would be challenging because of the way it moves. And the turning radius, there's a huge advantage to having an electric option for a tractor to clean animal pens because some of our animal pens are inside buildings, right? So now you're not getting any noxious gases being produced inside your building, which is better for the people, better for the animals. It's quiet, and so if we could correct... make the machine more agile like a skid steer, that would be great.

Uduak Edet: 28:09

Okay. Thank you. Is there, is there anything you would like to share about your perception of the electric tractor ?

Jason Bourcier: 28:16

I mean, it's been very exciting, I guess to have one available to use at the Glenlea research station. I really like data when working with livestock in the barns with the animals. So I really liked the idea that you can collect data with this tractor and just, you know, see what it's doing throughout the day. And I mean I'm excited to use the autonomous feature on that because I believe you can get even more data collected through an app. But yeah, I really have enjoyed having the tractor here and having, you know, something with all that technology. It's super popular in the industry now to talk about different types of technology in agriculture. So having that onsite is a really good talking point for all visitors and definitely look forward to trying it out on, you know, for different tasks and seeing how it performs.

Uduak Edet: 29:18

Okay, thank you so much Jason Bourcier, it's been a pleasure meeting you and learning more about your experience with the electric tractor at the Glenlea Research Station in Manitoba. We are certainly looking forward to hearing more about your experience after the summer. Thank you all for listening, and please stay tuned for more upcoming podcasts on the University of Manitoba Resources for agricultural engineering, your gateway to discovering the latest innovation, research and practical solution in agricultural engineering.

Uduak Edet: 0:16

Hello, and welcome to the University of Manitoba Resources for Agricultural Engineering Podcast. I am your host, Uduak Edet, an agricultural research extension engineer in the Department of Biosystem Engineering. This podcast is your gateway to discovering the latest innovation, research and practical solution in agricultural engineering. Our mission is to forge meaningful connections with the agricultural community and help farmers address their engineering needs and aspiration. Today I am joined by Justice Zander , who is the operations manager at Leanne Morrison's Research Farm , Carman, Manitoba . Before we discuss about electric tractors, please tell us about yourself.

Justice Zander: 0:59

Thanks for having me on this podcast. I'm a graduate of the University of Manitoba where I focused on corn phenology across the prairie. So I did my masters in 2015 to 2018, coming from Zimbabwe, where I have a background in crop science. I have a bachelor's degree in crop science from the University of Zimbabwe. And prior to that I also did my diploma in agriculture from an associate college of the University of Zimbabwe. So I do have lots of agriculture related experience, not only in crops, but also livestock ranging from , dairy beef , sheep, goats and some irrigation as well. So I came to Canada to do my master's , and then I got a job in Melita , which is one of the diversification centres run by Manitoba Agriculture. I worked there for three years from 2018 up until 2021. Then I got this opportunity to join the University of Manitoba, replacing a research station manager who was retiring. So I provide oversight for this research firm. We conduct research in various aspects and various objectives. So I'm the one, I'm the go-to person in terms of providing oversight, making sure that all the researchers have all that they need in order to conduct their research. So be it the land , resource, equipment and the training related to safety as well.

Uduak Edet: 2:54

Okay. Thank you. Good to know you have global experience in farming. What type of electric tractors do you have when you are on the farm?

Justice Zander: 3:04

Alright , so we recently acquired M5 Electric tractors. We just got it in December, this winter. And it is a really nice small compact tractor. It is 40 horsepower, that's the PTO power. That's 40 horsepower. It can be tuned up to 70 horsepower. And it comes with 360 view . It has cameras all over. So you can see the front, the sides and the rear of the tractor . It also is... it is a 100% electric, which means there's zero emissions, right? So we are trying to be involved or makes significant contributions to climate change, reducing emissions. And it also has an autonomous option. It can be operated without a driver manually steering it to do the farm operations. Then one of feature that I find really important is the safety features. So you cannot drive it without wearing your seatbelt, right? You have to wear your seatbelt , you have to be seated on the seat. You cannot drive it while you are , while you're standing. Other tractors may not have that feature. So it is really nice that it comes with that safety feature. Then it also, it is also equipped with a smart screen. So all the operations and settings are done on your screen, and then you can operate the trigger . So for instance , this farm has got many operators, right ? We do have 9 or 10 technicians that will be using that equipment. So each operator will have to log in their credentials in order to operate, and we will be providing training before they can operate that piece of equipment. Then it is sort of a computer on its own. So you can also analyze your data. So it'll be working in the field. You'll have inputted of course the job that it'll be do doing, whether it is tillage or spraying or mowing a specific field. It can provide or generate some data that you will be able to use to compare, to make comparisons in terms of if you were to use a diesel tractor , how much savings have you made using the electric tractor, right? Then one other thing that it is, is versatile, right? It is a versatile piece of equipment. It can be used as a vehicle. It is also equipped with a generator. So let's say you're out in the field working, and then you need to fix something. You can carry your mobile welding machine. You can use that tractor as a source of power to do those repairs out in the field. You don't necessarily need to drive it back to get power in your workshop. Then it is also a utility tractor. I think I've mentioned that before. So, apart from it being a vehicle, it can be used for a number of tasks. You can use it for mowing, you can use it for spraying. You can use it for, for tilling. It is a smaller tractor of course, but for our purposes, I think it'll do a great job.

Uduak Edet: 6:56

Okay. Thank you. What were your initial thoughts about the electric tractors when you saw it?

Justice Zander: 7:07

So when I saw it initially, I thought it is a fancy looking piece of equipment and one wouldn't really think that it can be utilized in the field, right? But looking at the specs and some reviews that I've seen online , I think it'll be a useful piece of equipment that we'll see how it performs right during the season, because this is our first time to acquire or to have that type of tractor . So we'll see, because we have a same 40 horsepower tractor that we can be able to make comparison with in terms of how they both work.

Uduak Edet: 8:02

Have you had opportunity to drive the tractor though ?

Justice Zander: 8:06

Yes, I did. But it was just driving it on the yard, not in the field because there was lots of snow out in the field. So it was just driving it from, from the truck to the shop and then to another building that, so that's pretty much a simple , to operate machine, similar to other tractors with the only difference that it is electric.

Uduak Edet: 8:40

Okay. So what advantage do you think, like having seen the tractor, what advantage do you think it would have on your farm compared to that of a diesel tractor ?

Justice Zander: 8:58

Alright , so I've mentioned before that it is an electric tractor, like 100% electric. So comparing it with a diesel tractor we are not worried about emissions, right? So that's a plus for it compared to diesel tractor . Then in terms of maintenance we haven't experienced it yet because we have not done any maintenance on it , since it is new and we have not used it to do any jobs out in the field. But just looking at the manual, it is fairly low maintenance cost tractor, compared to diesel tractor . Then one other thing that I would want to highlight, it is instant torque. So diesel tractors tend to take a little bit of time to like to power up in terms of if you're pulling a piece of equipment , they tend to take... it tends to take longer than an electric tractors . Then maybe one other advantage I would say, in terms of operation , of course it is more or less similar to diesel tractors, but it, it is much easier to operate, much simpler to operate, I would say.

Uduak Edet: 10:42

Okay, thank you. What infrastructure did you have to set up to be able to have, have the electric tractor on your farm?

Justice Zander: 10:55

Alright , so when this research facility was established already, we had a heated shop that is for repairs and maintenance of equipment around this time of the year, but for storage that sector is part of the larger funds that were applied for by the university to improve our research operations. So we have a new equipment , building that is meant to store the pieces of equipment that we are purchasing in this phase, and that includes the electric tractor . But , we had to install a specific charging spot for it. It came with an 80 amp charger, which required installation, like separate installation. It's not a normal plug in to an outlet. You have to connect that directly to the to the electrical panel. So that alone was an additional $1,000.00, just the labor to install the electric costs for it. So apart from that additional cost from our local electrician, everything else was according to plan, in terms of storage.

Uduak Edet: 12:32

Okay, so for the coming planting season, what do you intend to use the electric tractor for?

Justice Zander: 12:44

Right , so my plan this coming season, because it is the first time looking at its specs and its capabilities , I'm going to start using it on a 3 point hitch sprayer. The tank is 120 gallons, and this sector is capable of , I think it is, it is capable of 1,550 gallons of spray mix. So we'll try it on that one, and then we'll see how many hours it will take to recharge after spraying for a certain number of hours. And then there's also a rotor till that we will be trying on, on it. It's a 5 foot rotor tail , which is less than 2,200 pounds in weight. And that tractor is capable of lifting that and pulling it as well. Then just the general maintenance in the plots , we will be using a mower. It's a 5 foot deck mower that we will be using it. And the main idea for this season is just to see which implement we can use with this electric tractor and then we can have it fixed on one piece of implement in 2027.

Uduak Edet: 14:27

Okay. So how have other staff members, your colleagues, how have they... what's their opinion about the electric tractor ?

Justice Zander: 14:39

So right now I've read feedback from a few technicians. We have seen it, right? And we were part of the training in December when we received it. It is hard to say right now because we have not used it or they have not seen it working, but just looking at it , I think it has some limitations or maybe it's because when these tractors were manufactured, they were mainly meant for orchards, right? But because we are a research firm , they will still do the job. They'll still meet our needs because we do small plot research. One challenge that they figure out especially my technician who does the repairs and maintenance, is that it is a very low clearance right from the from the ground to the bottom of the tractor. So in order to get underneath to change the hydraulic filters, it is quite tough, but we'll work with that device, it means to make it easy for us to do those services maintenance. Apart from that, we will see how it performs and then we'll get more feedback hopefully get back this spring.

Uduak Edet: 16:31

Okay. So you said something about limitations, and one of it that you mentioned was the maintenance aspect of trying to change the hydraulic. What other limitations do you foresee when using the electric tractor?

Justice Zander: 16:48

Alright , so for that tractor because of its size, in terms of power, it is a little bit on the lower side. If I am comparing to diesel tractors , that's the major limitation. That is, if it were to be used under commercial production, like large scale production , it is meant for maybe small jobs and small pieces of equipment. So it cannot pull those large pieces of equipment, even if we're using the same horse , comparing it to the same horsepower is maybe a 40 horsepower diesel tractor or in the 40 horsepower electric tractor. Then one other limitation is that since it is an electric tractor , it'll need to be charged in between jobs, right? Depending on what kind of job you are going to do. Theoretically it says it can work for 14 hours. That is what it says, but we're yet to see that when we use it in the field. Most of our jobs here, we do maybe five to seven hours per day running a tractor. That also depends on what kind of job you are doing. If it is tillage, for example, that may take a while , to finish, but if it is just a small plot, probably be one to two hours, that's per technician, and we have 9 technicians. If they're going to be using that tractor for that same day, then it means it will need to be checked . Because I was looking at the... if you look at the manual, the manual says if you are doing some tillage, it probably the batch will last five to seven hours. So , which means you... you'll need to charge it before the end of the day so that the next day somebody else will be able to use it. But if they want to, if people want to use it at night they are able to do that as well because its lights, just the same as other diesel tractors that we have here. So you can recharge it and then go back to work and all that.

Uduak Edet: 19:33

Okay. So the big question here is that , do you think electric tractor at the future of farming, and what's your reason if you are for or against it?

Justice Zander: 19:49

Right. So I would say yes. The reason being , in terms of the power and the charging that you need to do in between, unless there are some improvements, right, in terms of the battery capacity and all that they can be the future of farming. Because here, I think we have here at task is about emissions, right? And these electric tractors address some of those issues of emissions, which is a problem with diesel operated tractors. But to say that they will replace diesel tractors, I think it is a little bit early for that. But at the moment, I think it's about taking it , one day at a time or step by step or improvement by improvement. If there are issues they're built upon corrected and maybe if something that is more efficient for large scale farmers. So I think at this stage it's about complementing , maybe you leave a part of your fleet being diesel operated and then part of your fleet being electric tractor and then in future, yes, maybe they can be 100% replacement, but I think that would take a while.

Uduak Edet: 21:41

Okay. How is the manufacturer support in terms of the, the tractors, like boats , if you're having issues, repair, availability of parts, or , um, just reaching out to them?

Justice Zander: 21:59

Alright , so in terms of reaching out, I would say so far , since we've acquired it , we haven't had any issues in terms of support. They're always available. So that tractor also comes in with a sort of job request platform or query relaunch platform. So if there are any issues, you just log in , send your issues on that app, and then a technician will reach out to you as soon as possible, right? So we'll see how that goes , when we will be using it in the spring. The only challenge that I see right now is if we have a need for replacement parts in Canada, the closest dealership is in British Columbia , right? There's only one at the moment. Every other, like all other dealers are in the United States. All other dealers that are closer to us are in the United States, but in Canada it is just in British Columbia. I think they might be looking for some dealerships or some already established companies to have contracts with in terms of parts supply or something like that. But I am hoping that we won't have any issues since it's a new chapter . I think we should be okay at least for the next several years.

Uduak Edet: 23:44

Okay. You said something about safety , that if you're not on the seats, the equipment is not going to move or something. Sometimes you listen to farmers and they have some concerns about too many safety features hindering their operation. Can you comment about the safety features in the electric tractors and the work operation that their selected to do?

Justice Zander: 24:15

Alright , I know if I say I am biased towards more safety or not, but I it is a good thing actually to have more safety features on any piece of equipment. So what the main thing is that , we not only want to save the life of the operator, but also that piece of equipment. So those safety features are there for a reason. So one of the safety feature that I had not mentioned is the roll of a protection that is there. So if you don't have those rollbars for protection, for example, on your tractor, if you are involved in an accident, like a rollocer accident, then it means your whole tractor is a write off , like it is completely damaged and destroyed, but with the rollbar for protection, for example, it is a safety feature that saves the whole of your tractor. Maybe the damage can only be on those ropes that are higher up there, but the rest of your equipment can still be operational or functional. So I would say maybe those safety features are really important and should be on each piece of equipment.

Uduak Edet: 25:46

Okay. So do you have any final message for our listeners with regards to electric tractors?

Justice Zander: 25:54

All right . So what I would say to all listeners , in particular farmers, they should try acquiring one or two pieces of equipment like these electric tractors, they are efficient , they save the environment , they do the job, they're equipped with a GPS unit, so you don't have to worry about operating it manually when you're seeding , for example, right? We are in a precision agriculture era . So this tractor is what they want to go to. So I would say they should try it out and see how it works. Above all , you can operate it as a fleet, right? You can do your operations in the office, send it to the field, do its work, and then you just be monitor monitoring it, right? Maybe you don't need 7 operators on 7 tractors. Maybe one person can operate that , as long as you have that autonomous feature, right? And you are well trained to operate that fleet.

Uduak Edet: 27:11

Okay. Thank you so much Justice Zander, it's been a pleasure meeting you and learning more about your experience with the electric tractor , at the Leanne Morrison's Research Farm. We're certainly looking forward to hearing more about your experience after this summer. And thank you all for listening, and please stay tuned for more upcoming podcast on University of Manitoba resources for agricultural engineering, your gateway to discovering the latest innovation research practical solution in agricultural engineering.

Justice Zander: 27:45

Thank you very much .

Uduak Edet: 0:16

Hello, and welcome to the University of Manitoba Resources for Agricultural Engineering podcast. I am your host, Uduak Edet, an agricultural research extension engineer in the Department of Biosystem Engineering. This podcast is your gateway to discovering the latest innovation, research and practical solutions in agricultural engineering. Our mission is to forge meaningful connections with agricultural community and help farmers address the engineering needs and aspiration. Today I am joined by Vincent Hervet, who is the research scientist, crop product entomology at Agricultural and AgriFood Canada in Manitoba. Before we discuss insect management in grain storage, please tell us about yourself and what inspired you to study insects.

Vincent Hervet: 1:09

Hello, Uduak. Thank you. Yes , that's a very good question. So, I grew up in France in the middle of the country on ta farm, and where I grew up, there was a lot of insects around when I was a little kid. I never paid them too much attention, to be honest, until one day when I was six years old, I found this beautiful butterfly. It was the old world swallow tail , big yellow butterfly, which landed on a rose in front of the house where I grew up. And I caught it with my hand . It was so big I could hardly handle it. Then I called my mom to put it in a jar, which I did, and then I fed it flowers for several days and observed it and eventually died. And I didn't want to part with it because it was so beautiful. So then my mom told me, some people pin insects, you know, and keep them, and you can do that. So I did that, and then I was looking for more butterflies, catching them, always trying to keep them alive as long as possible. And then I extended to other insects, always observing them, feeding them as much as I could, learning as much as I could, buying all sorts of entomology books. So my early exposure to entomology was just personal interest. And eventually , because I was very interested in entomology, that's when I pursued a master's and PhD in the field of entomology. So I studied , physiology of crop pests primarily, and other aspects of crop pest control, integrated pest management. And that was conducted here in West Bridge , Alberta with the research centre over there, Agriculture and Agri Food Canada, and with the University of West Bridge. And when it was time to look for a job, I applied to one in grain protection and entomology of stored grain, another stored products or stored product in stored food. And so I got the job. So that's what got me into this initially, personal interest, and then , need for a job. And it's great to be able to match both.

Uduak Edet: 3:20

Okay . Thank you. Good to know that you've virtually , used your childhood , this in transfer to build as a career . That's good to hear. I'm just wondering , what is insights monitoring insects monitoring installed grains such an important topic?

Vincent Hervet: 3:41

Yeah, so insects installed grain bin are very tiny. So they're so tiny, they will actually be able to travel between the grain kernels , most species and fairly fast. And so they're so tiny and they're so insidious and they develop very fast, and they can very quickly destroy the grain without you knowing it because they're so tiny, you can't really see it. For example, the most important pest of stored grain in Canada is the Rusty Grain Bettle. It has an average of two millimetres long. It's a tiny little brown bettle, and it has the habit of degerming seeds. So it goes from one seed, basically they will germinate, and then it'll degermenate a whole bunch of seeds, and you don't see it because the seeds, the seeds have a pinhole. So what might look like good seeds, in fact, dead seeds. So the problem with this particular beetle, so the Rusty Grain Beetle is 95% of the insect detections in Canada, in elevators in Canada. So I will primarily talk about these species because it's by far the main pest of stored grain . So the problem with it is once it degerms a seed, so all the seed producers will have seeds that don't germinate. Actually, I've talked to some of them. And in fact, seed farmers tend to hold seeds in their grain bins longer than other farmer. And that is a huge problem with the Rusty Grain Beetle, because the Rusty Grain Beetle will over time be able to develop into such numbers that it'll damage a whole bunch of seeds. So those seeds won't germinate once they're planted. But even the seeds that are kept for human or animal consumption, when it's degermed, then there it starts to decay basically. Then it starts to, some natural processes occurring , the seed that degrades its internal quality. So free fatty acids are produced and it gets rancid more quickly. So that's why we don't want the seed to die too early or before we process it, so we don't see them. So that's why it's important to, to know that the insects are there and to do something about that, to prevent them from proliferating in the grain bins.

Uduak Edet: 5:56

Okay. So how does this affect food security and global green markets?

Vincent Hervet: 6:04

Yeah, so in Canada, because we enjoy a lot of cold weather, particularly here on the prairies, it's not as bad as in other countries, but globally, about one third of the grain produced is destroyed during storage. I mean, the estimates vary widely. And the reason is because we don't really know what the losses are in farms. It's very difficult to know that. So I've seen a huge range of estimates. I think one third is pretty conservative. Globally, that's what we're looking at, huge losses on farm. And not just on farm, but primarily on farms. So that's why it's so important to be able to manage those insects and not just insects, the mold as well. To make sure the grain is kept under ideal conditions. Otherwise, it's a huge loss.

Uduak Edet: 6:57

Okay. When you talk about grain insect infestation, does it affect all grain or there specific type of grain that insects tend to focus more on?

Vincent Hervet: 7:13

Yeah, that's a very good question. And indeed , not all grains are affected the same. Cereals are by far the most impacted by insects during storage. So I conducted a study where I put traps in various grain bins and looked for insects. So what I found, is in Canada we are virtually not affected by insects during storage. I say in Canada, because if you go to tropical countries, you have the so-called brukeeds, or the bean weevils, which are very important. They damage pulses a lot. But in Canada it's extremely rare. We do have the bean weevil it's extremely rare overall, not a problem. If you have pulses in grain bins, you're pretty guaranteed you won't have any insect. Everything that is oil seed as well. Extremely rare to have insect problems in oil seeds. What I found from personal observations is many insects will feed on the oil seed, but it'll take them a very, very, very long time to develop and multiply such, so that during the storage time, which is usually less than a year in Canada, it's just not a meaningful impact, you know, so the real problem in Canada is really cereal. So that's where we find the largest diversity of insects and also they develop the fastest. So that's where we really need to keep an eye.

Uduak Edet: 8:43

Okay. So with this insects infestation, what are the traditional methods actually used to, to monitor insects in grain storage?

Vincent Hervet: 8:56

So the traditional method is to not monitor, unfortunately. The problem is , it's very time consuming. You know, farmers and other people, they have so many other things to do, you know, it's one more thing. And I mean, understandably so, you will have to actually climb into the grain bin, put the, the trap in it. The trap is a tube with holes all around, and a little insect reservoir at the bottom. So you push it into the grain, then you wait a certain amount of time, you know, 2 weeks, 1 month, and you retrieve the trap. You look what insects are in there, and you kind of have an idea whether you have an infestation or not. You look if there's many insects or not many insects. So you do have , there's also the safety aspect. You do have to climb up the grain bin and climb down with the trap. So that's a problem. So I mean... those traps are available. Another problem is it's not super cheap. If you were to put some in all the beans , there will be a lot of time spent and it'll be a little bit expensive. So that's why people typically don't do it. It's pretty rare. But otherwise those so-called prop traps are the way to monitor insects in grain bins. So there is also an electronic trap that exists . It's called insector. It has a little laser at the bottom that detects the insects that fall into the trap. And there is a software that analyzes this , so you don't have to go into the grain bean but this system is very expensive. So yeah, those are the main problems why people don't monitor grain in grain bins.

Uduak Edet: 10:39

Okay. So, are these method effective or is there any other technology that you think might actually monitor or detect insects better than the ones you've mentioned?

Vincent Hervet: 10:57

Yeah, so it is effective in a way, although we don't have any baseline numbers. So if you see a few insects, is it a big problem? It's not a big problem. It's very subjective. And some studies have tried to assess what number is significant. But there are so many different parameters at play that there's no... it's not conclusive. So basically right now, so that's one of the problems we don't really know. So it's not super effective for that. If you see a whole bunch of insects in the trap , then you know you got problem. And if you see virtually none , you know, you don't get problem. Other than that , in the future if there were electronic system, that were cheaper than the ones currently in the market, I just talked about, that will be a lot more efficient. So we're not there yet. So I believe that progress needs to be made to improve the efficiency for monitoring insect in grain bin , and I think it'll come.

Uduak Edet: 11:54

Okay. You mentioned one thing, which is about putting the probe inside the grain bin itself. Is there a specific location that farmers should focus on when, when placing those probes?

Vincent Hervet: 12:10

Yeah, very good question. Once again, once again... sorry. So the best location is at the very tippy top of the inverted cone at the top of the grain mass . So there, I guess there's 2 reasons for that. One is many insects tend to climb. If you put something high, they will tend to go up there. So you do find more insects for this reason. Another reason is it tends to be moister and warmer here at the top of the cone. And when you aerate the grain to try to dry it or cool it down, it starts at the bottom. And the last bit of the grain that dries or cools down is the top of the cone, the very tippy top of the grain mass . And so the insects like it when it's warm and moist, and so they tend to be there. So if you want, and usually , a hotspot tends to develop there as well. So that's why it's important to monitor there. So if you can put a trap anywhere in the grain bin, the top of the cone is always the best place to spot the insects.

Uduak Edet: 13:14

Okay. Are there any regulation or industry standard for actually monitoring insects in storage bins?

Vincent Hervet: 13:24

There is no regulation or industry standards for monitoring insects. However, the Canada Grain Act stipulates that it is forbidden to sell or buy grain that processes at least one live grain pest in it. So when a farmer goes to the elevator to sell the grain , they take a sample and if there is at least one live grain pest in there , they are not allowed to accept this grain. So there is no regulation for monitoring the insects, but there is regulation for not having any live insect in the grain .

Uduak Edet: 14:07

Okay. Now, you know , there's this buzzword about AI and artificial intelligence machine learning. Do you think it has any rule to play in terms of insects monitoring and grain storage?

Vincent Hervet: 14:23

Yeah, I think so. Like, if we could more efficiently detect insect infestations, then we would know when it's time to do something, because the more you wait , the worse the problem, and then the harder it is to control the problem, and also the more expensive it is . And artificial intelligence or machine learning could very well be one of these ways to help. Could be at the farm , could be at the grain elevator, in the grain they receive , could be in the grain mass. Yes , most definitely. And it is something that researchers are looking into right now. So hopefully in a few years we'll see something about that.

Uduak Edet: 15:04

Okay. Thank you. What's the role that temperature, humidity and even the bin size... what role do they play in terms of the insect activity within the grain bin itself?

Vincent Hervet: 15:19

Okay. So we know that the higher the humidity and the higher the temperature , the faster both mold and insect proliferate in grain. Actually, there are a number of graphs for safe storage guidelines on the Canadian Grain Commission website. These are for insects... sorry for grain spoilage. So what is the safe zone in term of temperature and moisture content to prevent spoilage during storage? These work very well with mold, but I'd say they also work very well with insects. If you can keep the grain within those safe storage guidelines, the grain should be free of both mold and insects. The only difference with insect is nearly all species of grain insects will stop multiplying and developing below 18 degrees Celsius. A few of them will still develop and multiply down to 15 degrees Celsius. So if you can bring the grain down to below 18 degrees Celsius, you will basically stop any insect infestation. So that's why it's important to decrease grain temperature as early as possible. And then it'll be safe from insects below those temperatures. Oh, the size of the grain bin. Okay. I did a study, again, a survey across the prairie provinces of Canada to look at insects in grain bins. And I did notice a trend related to bin size. Almost inevitably the larger grain bins had less insect problems, but they also had better grain quality in terms of moisture content and temperature. So bigger grain bins resulted with less insect problem. But I think this is because those bigger grain bins tended to be more modern, often equipped with temperature cables and were better managed. I think that's why I don't think it's the size of the grain bin per se, that made a difference. I think the difference is the way people manage bigger grain bins as opposed to older , smaller grain bins, which may have a wood floor or which may not be rated . So that's where the difference is .

Uduak Edet: 17:34

So what kind of, like, the biggest challenge in detecting or controlling insect population in grain storage?

Vincent Hervet: 17:45

I think the biggest problem is farmers are just too busy to... I mean, deploy traps, monitor traps. And as I mentioned, the traps are the most efficient when you put them at the very tippy top of the grain masses . So you actually have to climb all the way to the top of the grain , means very challenging. It's not easy. So I think that is the biggest challenge when it comes to monitoring insect populations. So again , if there was some kind of electronic measures, you know, there were no insects, that will solve this problem.

Uduak Edet: 18:19

Oh , okay. You know , we look at Winnipeg actually with this last... with this current winter, you notice the way the temperature fluctuations. Like it goes very low and it goes high, and people are talking about climate change. Do you think there's any, as in, have you observed any shift in terms of the insect behavior with this recent change in terms of the weather?

Vincent Hervet: 18:49

Okay, so it's hard to know because there hasn't been a survey before the one I did across the prairies , or across Canada for that matter, looking at insects in grain bins. So if we don't have a baseline, it's hard to know what you see , if it's normal or not. I think it is normal what I saw, because only insects that were well known. And the more the insects that were the most known, like the Rustic Grain Beatles were the ones I found the most primarily. So I don't think that we see an impact of climate change. I did not collect any new species, actually, that was part of the rationale why I did this work was , you know, maybe this new species moving into Canada from the south, but I did not find any so far . So it's maybe early days. There definitely are species in the United States that definitely don't like coal too much, and if global temperatures were to increase by a couple degrees , we most likely find them here. So it's probably a matter of time, and we are not there yet, I would say .

Uduak Edet: 19:57

Okay. You talked about conducting a survey, conducting a research. Can you kind of give an overview of what, what the research is all about?

Vincent Hervet: 20:12

Research in grain storage?

Uduak Edet: 20:14

Yes.

Vincent Hervet: 20:16

Okay. So I work on 3 different things mainly. So the detection of insects, the prevention of insects in stored grain and the control, if you can do anything . So I guess the survey that I conducted, you know, putting traps in grain , this goes into detection. So that's one project that I'm currently working on. I'm also doing some work on the use of temperatures to control insects. So all grain insects will develop the best between 20 and 35 degrees Celsius above or below this temperature. They will stop not developing as fast and further above or below, they will start to die. So , I've looked at how we can use cold temperature to control insects in grain. Particularly the bin. We... because there was some trade implications with the bin, with some countries that buy a lot of Canadian bins , had quarantined on that bin weevil, and that was a problem. So right now, and I have a third project also right now, which is how we can use beneficial insects like perisoids to control growing pests in facilities. So those insects will go and target the pest and kill them. So you don't have to do anything that... it's just natural control.

Uduak Edet: 21:56

Okay. So based on the research you've done so far, what advice can you give to farmers?

Vincent Hervet: 22:07

Okay. So primarily from mysurvey of insects in grain bins across the prairie provinces, also I did measure grain moisture content , temperature, and also when the grain was harvested and where the fans run to aerate the grain and these kind of questions. And one thing I noticed , one of many things I noticed... one thing was the fall when the temperature, the years that have higher temperature during the fall, we see more problems. The grain quality is lower, there's more insect problems , there's more mold feeders. So I found a lot of mold feeders, which only feed on mold, not on grain, and some bins have a very high number of those. So that tells you that grain quality is not optimal because that means there's mold or there has been mold that started to develop. So yeah, fall temperature is one thing. Another thing I noticed is people don't always aerate the grain right away. They wait for the temperature to cool down , to cool down the grain. But there are 2 things we can act upon, there is temperature, but there is also the moisture content and you can regulate any of these . So after harvest, if the temperatures are still too high to cool down the grain, one thing that can be done is dried . And one thing is the higher the temperature, the faster the grain will dry. It's... you know, because the molecules move faster, so then they dry faster. So immediately after harvest, I will recommend to turn on the fan to try to dry the grain. If you wait too long, if the fall temperatures are too high, the grain is going to start to spoil. Another thing is , during the night or early morning, after time , the temperatures are low enough at the end of the summer or early fall to cool down the grain. So we don't have to wait for the, I would say , temperature to be very low to start cooling down the grain. The earlier the better . Consistently I found that the people who waited too long, usually the grain quality had already gone down. And usually the insects were already in high number, and usually there were a lot of mold feeders. So yeah, turn on the fan, the earlier the better to dry the grain, to cool down the grain. Another thing I noticed is people don't seem to really know how to handle the grain during the summer if the grain is, so most of the grain is sold during the winter month , and that's good because it's cold and nothing really happens. But if the grain is kept during the summer , the problem is it can warm up. And then you have problems of mold and insects, and you don't have cold temperature to stop all of that. So what do you do? So, again, based from observations of what different people do , it seems that if the grain is really cold during the winter, you know, turn on the fan during the winter, you cool it down , below zero degree Celsius, like minus 10 or something. This grain will remain below zero degree Celsius the whole summer because it has such high insulating property. Grain is very good at insulating, right? So if you don't touch it , it'll remain cold. And at these temperatures, insects will not be able to develop and mold will not be able to develop either. 4 degrees Celsius is the limit at which many molds can no longer develop. So it's good to keep the grain below 4 Celsius. So , I will recommend, however, to monitor the moisture content at the top of the grain mass , because if you have a whole bunch of cold grain and it's hot outside and moist, there is a risk that the top of the grain mass might suffer from condensation. I did not notice that. Interestingly, I did not notice that the people who kept the corn growing throughout the summer came fall it was still good, and there was no excess moisture at the top. So that's very interesting observation. But regardless, I will still advise farmers to monitor in case there is excess moisture recognition at the top. And if that's the case would recommend moving the grain into another grain bin, turning it over to another grain bin to homogenize the moisture content and temperature gradients. So that would be my main advice.

Uduak Edet: 26:47

Okay, what role does engineering or agriculture engineers can actually assist you in helping you manage insects in stored grain?

Vincent Hervet: 27:02

One thing... so yeah, I work at the University of Manitoba , so I collaborate with engineers here in the Department of Biosystems Engineering. So one thing that we can help each other on, is to develop those so-called sensors, actually. I work with Dr . Fujian and so he has a project to develop sensors to detect insects in grain. So there's different ways we can detect insects in grain. Some people have used sounds or vibration created by insects feeding on the grain. Other people have looked at the increase of CO2. Or there is a number of other things we can look at. Actually, I don't want to say too much about this particular project, because I don't know how sensitive it is , and since I'm not the main PI on it's Dr. Fujian. But I would just say that he's working on the development of sensors that if it works, it could potentially revolutionize the way that insects are monitored in grain bins. Another thing is to look at is population dynamics. Many engineers are also modelers , so they can develop models. So if we look at certain conditions of grain, you know , temperature, type of grain , moisture content and so on. And the insects that are out there, then you would know how long it'll take for a certain species to multiply in the grain. And where you know whether your grain is safe or not, or if you need to do something. Or anything that's related to grain management. Are there things that my predecessors have found , if you use an auger or a grain vac for this instance, you can kill the vast majority of insects in grain. Nearly a hundred percent. In fact , especially in the case of growing back, yeah. Because of the insects are fairly squishy if you think of it, and fairly fragile. So it was found that the augers will kill nearly all insects that are outside the grain, you know, by being carried through the auger, they just get crushed. Remain the insect inside the grain and it was found that grain vac, especially if there is a 90 degree angle in the pipe and you don't suck up too much grain at once, that these, this will impact onto that angle and that will kill virtually a hundred percent of all the insects, whether they are inside, outside the grain, but the grain has to be fairly dry. I have to mention it was from... if the grain is not sufficiently dry it doesn't work too well . So think like this, you know.

Uduak Edet: 29:41

Okay, for listeners interested in the technical side of the work you've done , could you explain some of the data analysis or modeling technique that you use in, in your research?

Vincent Hervet: 29:56

Yeah. I can mention one interesting analysis is the probate analysis. So this is an analysis we use to confidently extrapolate a set of data, for example. So when I work with temperature, so we look at how long it takes for an insect to die at a specific temperature, and we can look at multiple temperatures, but we can't look at every single temperature, you know, that will take too long. And so if we have a few different temperature and we know the rate of death for each temperature we can analyze with the probate analysis. And it does a very good job at extrapolating to give a good confidence interval of how long it'll take the insects to die at different temperatures, those you haven't tested. It can also be used to see how long it'll take an insect to die at a certain temperature. Like the bin Weevil at -5 degrees Celsius is a temperature we use. So we looked at the LT50. So that's the lethal time where you get 50% of mortality and then LT95. But to get the LT100 is very difficult. You have to do this experiment a very long time, and usually you don't have enough insects to get the numbers, you need to get that 0.0 0 0 0 0 1, you need a lot of insects. So we use the probate analysis to extrapolate those data to see where we get the 100% control at certain temperature, for example. So probate analysis is a very interesting analysis and is very useful.

Uduak Edet: 31:39

Okay. That's good to know. Looking ahead, what emerging trend or research area in insights most monitoring are you most excited about?

Vincent Hervet: 31:52

Yeah, to me it's all the AI. At first I wasn't too convinced because of the cost involved. Because if we were to develop, you know, a sensor that can detect only insects, but then you look at the cost , like in our case prohibitive, It's not gonna work, nobody's gonna buy it. However, we've seen with the modern technology, like for example, the sequencing of molecular sequencing of DNA , like it started just a few , like 20 years ago was 10 of thousands of dollars to do some kind of sequencing. Now it's like 0.0, you know, $1 for one sample. So the cost has gone dramatically down, and it seems to be the case with many of these new technologies. So I think this is... I think is what is exciting. We can develop sensors, you know, right now the cost will be too prohibitive, but if the technology is there and after a certain number of years , once the technology what it's make what it's easier to produce it there should be a price decrease that make it possible for farmers to buy. And then they would know in real time what the insect situation is in their grain bin .

Uduak Edet: 33:11

Okay, is this where you see the future of insects monitoring going in the next five or 10 years, or it is gonna go a different direction from AI?

Vincent Hervet: 33:23

I think, you know, the traps I previously mentioned, the prop trap where you have to climb the grain bin, putting it in there, those have existed for a long time and people don't use them. It's simple, but it's just too much work. So I don't think that's the future. I think the future is something like the sensors that are on cables in grain bins, so right now we have temperature sensors primarily. You can also have moisture sensors and sometime you even have CO2 sensor and in fact , a rise in CO2 is the very first indication that you have organisms developing in your grain . Could be mold, could be insect. So I think this is the future, whether it's CO2 sensor or other sensors , I do think that's where I see the future going. Like something incorporated with those cables , with those sensors to detect more things such as insects.

Uduak Edet: 34:26

Okay. So on the general notes, what resources would you recommend for farmers or storage managers looking to improve their insect management practice?

Vincent Hervet: 34:40

The main thing I would recommend, and the first thing I always recommend is those safe storage guideline graphs on the Canadian Grain Commission. And it's , so it shows very clearly which temperature and which moisture content the grain will spoil or not spoil. That's very useful. But on this website, there are many other things. It's not just that if you look at managing grain, you will see how to prevent insect infestation or spoilage, how to disinfect grain bins. This is available. It's already there. It's on the website. So that's the main thing that I would advise people to check if they want to improve grain management. There's many other things I could mention, but I think it'll take too long. And I think it's too detailed. While this I think is big picture, it's readily available, it's very useful. So I will direct people to this website.

Uduak Edet: 35:43

Okay. Thank you. Is there anything else you would like to share about insect management in green storage?

Vincent Hervet: 35:51

We've already talked about various aspects of it. Keep the grain cool and dry and then you won't have any problem. Oh yeah. One thing I should mention is it's impossible to prevent insects from entering the grain bin. The insects are so tiny and the grain bins are not hermetic, which means you cannot stop them from entering. They will enter, I guarantee you, if you were to check every grain bin in much detail, you will find insects in every single one. The goal is not to stop them from entering. The goal is stop them from multiplying. And you do this by keeping the grain temperature and moisture content low.

Uduak Edet: 36:34

Okay. Thank you so much Mr. Vincent. It's been a pleasure meeting you and learning more about your experience with insect management in grain storage. We're certainly looking forward to hearing more about your research and experience. Thank you all for listening. Please stay tuned for more upcoming podcasts on the University of Manitoba's Resources for Agriculture Engineering, your gateway to discovering the latest innovation research and practical solutions in agricultural engineering.