Owen Kinch: Streamlining On-farm Operations, Through Innovative Digital Technologies, Artificial Intelligence, and Robotics

Our mission is to streamline on-farm operations, through innovative digital technologies, artificial intelligence, and robotics.

Tell us about yourself?

In my previous employment history, I helped develop autonomous farm machinery for DOT Technology Corp. I was the Director of Product Innovation and Development at DOT from about 2 years before the company’s incorporation, through to the successful sale to Raven Industries (now Case IH).

I helped foster a relationship with the University of Arizona to accommodate field testing through the winter months.

In the summertime, field testing and validation took place on my personal family farm in SE Saskatchewan.

I farmed using the DOT platform, year after year, helping to advance the technology. It is this experience at DOT, and my experience as a grain farmer, that I bring to Mojow.

If you could go back in time a year or two, what piece of advice would you give yourself?

Your doing the right things. Keep up the hard work!! I cant think of anything I would change.

What problem does your business solve?

Labor availability is a major challenge facing farmers around the world. Mojow intends to reduce farmers reliance on human labor to perform certain tasks. To streamline their on-farm operations.

Mojow is currently developing EYEBOX. EYEBOX is a small, rugged, and economical sensor suite that contains multiple cameras, as well as GPS, combined with a powerful computer for real time processing of collected data.

When farm machinery is in operation, the EYEBOX automatically collects images captured by the cameras and passes them through a deep neural network that classifies each pixel, to create a complete digital twin representation of the entire farming entity.

The digital twin that EYEBOX creates and updates in real time, becomes the foundation (or main input) of Mojow’s autonomous navigation controller.

The continuous intake of real time image data from the peripherals of the tractor, allows the Mojow navigation controller to attain a high level of “relative” position accuracy between the autonomous tractor, and any other physical object encountered within its working environment.

It allows Mojow’s navigation controller to react to changing work environments, much like a human operator does this today.

What is the inspiration behind your business?

I am an active owner/operator of a 3,000 acre grain farm in SE Saskatchewan for 15 years. I have a family with 2 young kids. I am currently living through the current struggles of trying to grow a crop in rural Saskatchewan.

What is your magic sauce?

Mojow’s founders have spent many years developing autonomous farming equipment and have leant where some of the future “pinch points” will be within broad acre farming.

Mojow has applied for numerous patents and is now developing specific “key enablers” of autonomy to overcome the pinch points.

What is the plan for the next 5 years? What do you want to achieve?

For the current 2022 crop year, our goal is to apply greater than 10,000 acres autonomously with a farm implement.

So far during spring of 2022, we have applied greater than 2,000 acres autonomously, utilizing a land roller implement on 4 separate farms near Langham, Saskatchewan.

We will be demonstrating our technology live at a number of public events later this summer of 2022 and beyond.

What is the biggest challenge you’ve faced so far?

It takes a lot of time and patience to build a technically strong development team. Its just not something you can turn out overnight. I think Mojow has had done a great job so far in this regard.

How do people get involved/buy into your vision?

Mojow is looking for additional grain farmers to work with located near Edmonton, Alberta to help validate our technology.