Hemisphere GPS Inc., Steven Koles, President, CEO

Outstanding Commercial Achievement in Alberta Science and Technology (GROSS SALES GREATER THAN $25M PER YEAR)
Leading the Market in Industrial GPS Products

Hemisphere GPS Inc. is revolutionizing the way farmers work their fields by introducing precision farming tools.
The company’s guidance and auto-steering products allow farmers seeding, swathing or combining their fields to improve efficiency and decrease input costs. With the guidance systems farmers can set a map in a desired pattern, be it a straight line, a circle or adjusted to contours.

“This is important to farmers because traditionally they have purposely overlapped rows to avoid skipping ground cover,” explains Steven Koles, president and CEO of Hemisphere GPS Inc. “They can lose up to 10 per cent or more of the land like that. So Outback Guidance® helps reduce fuel, fertilizer and seed costs, reducing environmental waste.”
Other than efficiency gains, Mr. Koles says Outback Guidance® auto-steering systems offer additional benefits to farmers.

“It reduces driver fatigue,” he explains. “That way they can work longer hours and through the night. If it takes fewer days to harvest and helps farmers avoid potential severe weather, that translates to better crop yields.”

This technology and the precision farming practices it fosters, allows farmers to conserve soil. Farmers can do what is called ‘strip tilling’, pre-planting nutrients in the autumn after harvest and returning in the spring to plant seeds in the same rows without disturbing the soil. The process can also improve crop yields.

No wonder Hemisphere GPS, a global leader in precision commercial GPS technology and products, is leaving its competitors in the proverbial dust. 

The Outback Guidance® suite of products claims more than half of the global market share in after-market precision agriculture GPS applications. Over 50,000 farmers in 50 countries are using the company’s products. With over 70 per cent of their clients in North America, Hemisphere GPS is focusing on international growth.