The Robot Industry Podcast

Welcome to podcast # 158. Chuck Baresich is the Founder and President of Haggerty Creek farming operation. He is a farmer and an expert in AgRobotics.

The farming operation is part of Haggerty Creek Ltd. owned & operated by Chuck & Justin Baresich and AGRIS Cooperative since 2001 www.haggertycreek.com. He has been researching and testing various automated technologies.

Haggerty AgRobotics is actively developing relationships with leading ag-technology companies to commercialize new innovations and bring them to farmers in Eastern Canada.

Here are some of my questions to Chuck:

Who is the Ontario AgRobotics Working Group?

Ag robotics adoption in Canada? What’s holding users back? What motivates them?

What is digital agriculture?

How did you get into automation….and what automation are you using?

Laser Zapper? Standard equipment?

What countries do they come from?

Service and support question (what is plan B?)

Resistant weeds and speed

Data question: Cameras and computers in every machine quality of images, etc.

Canadians are typically slow to install automation in factories…are farmers the same?

Let's talk about autonomous farming vehicles (AMRs, AGVs and logistics)

Is broadband a problem? Remote processing.

What is your advice to farmers who are thinking about automation?

Where can farmers see demonstrations?

How do we get better at putting more automation into farm?

Too complicated? Waterloo company startup example.

How can people get a hold of you?

AgRobotics Working Group

The AgRobotics Working Group comprises a diverse membership, including representatives from various levels of government, academic institutions, industry associations, and many more stakeholders in the agriculture sector. Since our establishment in March 2021, we have been dedicated to on-farm demonstrations, fostering networks, facilitating collaboration, and brainstorming innovative technology solutions. Our weekly meetings serve as a platform for discussing ideas, reviewing new technologies, applying for funding opportunities, and developing priorities for Ontario Agriculture.

Show Notes:

https://www.agroboticswg.com/memberships

https://www.agroboticswg.com/events

‍London, ON – March 23, 2026 – The future of farming will be on display at the inaugural Canadian AgRobotics & AI Summit on March 26, 2026, at The Grove, Western Fair District. As Canada’s largest agrobotics conference, the one-day event will bring together farmers, innovators, researchers, funders and industry leaders from across North America to explore the rapidly evolving role of robotics and artificial intelligence in agriculture.

If you would like to get in touch with us at THE robot industry podcast, you can find me, Jim Beretta on LinkedIn. https://www.linkedin.com/in/jimberetta/

Today’s podcast was produced by Customer Attraction Industrial Marketing and I would like to thank my team: Chris Gray for the music, Geoffrey Bremner for audio production and my business partner Janet.

And I would like to thank my Senior Audio Software Engineer, Geoff Bremner and you can find more information on his Linketree, linktr.ee/gbaudio

Be safe out there!

Jim

Jim Beretta...

Welcome to #157 of TRIP, The Robot Industry Podcast. I met up with Matt in Windsor during the Windsor-Essex' Emerging Technologies in Automation & Mobility Transformation Conference & Trade Show.

Matthew Hortop, P.E. is a Technical Specialist for all Things Electrification.

AVL is his employer and they are a 12,000-person company focused on powertrains. They don't make engines or inverters, they help customers doing the technology development. Batteries have become an important part of the automotive industry, including the drivetrain.

AVL

https://www.avl.com/en/engineering/e-mobility-engineering/battery-development-electric-vehicles

Some of the questions that I asked Matt:

How did you get into the industry?

What do you do?

What do you have for an automotive OEM?

The speed of the battery industry?

How do you support your customers?

You can find out more about the organizers (Invest Windsor Essex) at https://www.emergingtechnologies.ca/ or at https://www.investwindsoressex.com/.

If you would like to get in touch with us at THE robot industry podcast, you can find me, Jim Beretta on LinkedIn. https://www.linkedin.com/in/jimberetta/

Today’s podcast was produced by Customer Attraction Industrial Marketing and I would like to thank my team: Chris Gray for the music, Geoffrey Bremner for audio production and my business partner Janet.

And I would like to thank my Senior Audio Software Engineer, Geoff Bremner and you can find more information on his Linketree, linktr.ee/gbaudio

Be safe out there!

Jim

Jim Beretta

Customer Attraction & The Robot Industry Podcast

London, ON

Welcome to #156 of TRIP, The Robot Industry Podcast. Matt Khoshdarregi is the CEO of TetraGen Robotics. He holds a P.Eng. and Ph.D.

They, TetraGen, are a Manitoba-based developer of adaptive robotic manufacturing systems for high-mix, high-variability applications. Their current focus is on welding and trimming processes. Enjoy the podcast!

Some of my questions to him:

Matt, How did you get into the industry?

Tell me (and our audience) about TetraGen.

Who are your bullseye customers?

Why did you choose robotic welding?

How big is the labour challenge?

How does AI come into welding?

Tell me about your partners?

Have you had any surprises in starting TetraGen?

Data? How important is this to your customers?

How does a customer get started with you?

What does the future look like for automated - AI - welding?

What are some Frequently Asked Questions?

How can people get a hold of you?

https://www.linkedin.com/in/matt-khoshdarregi-561b8631

https://www.linkedin.com/company/tetragen-robotics

If you would like to get in touch with us at THE robot industry podcast, you can find me, Jim Beretta on LinkedIn. https://www.linkedin.com/in/jimberetta/

Today’s podcast was produced by Customer Attraction Industrial Marketing and I would like to thank my team: Chris Gray for the music, Geoffrey Bremner for audio production and my business partner Janet.

And I would like to thank my Senior Audio Software Engineer, Geoff Bremner and you can find more information on his Linketree, linktr.ee/gbaudio

Be safe out there!

Jim

Jim Beretta

Customer Attraction & The Robot Industry Podcast

London, ON

Welcome to #158, I have known Stephen Slothuber for a long time; in fact, I worked with him and his father at ATS Automation. The Slothubers were an institution at ATS for accuracy, dependability and getting things done.

I was happy to have Steve on the podcast to talk about CRM for automation integrators and machine builders.

Enjoy the podcast and if you are thinking about a CRM for your machine building company, or are thinking about a Zoho implementation, I highly recommend him and his company

https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephenslothouber

Emberops is his company name.

I would like to thank my team and our Senior Audio Software Engineer, Geoff Bremner, and you can find more information on his Linketree, linktr.ee/gbaudio

Thanks for listening!

Jim

Jim Beretta
Customer Attraction Industrial Marketing & The Robot Industry Podcast
London, ON
[email protected]

Chris Latour and I have known each other for many years, from our days at ATS Automation, and it was my pleasure to reach out to him to arrange a tour of Element5 in St. Thomas, Ontario. So if you have never heard of Mass Timber, it is structurally efficient wood that is bonded together and used to form small and large buildings: walls, ceilings, floors and is engineered to be easy to use, to look beautiful and be functional. Think of a wall that needs a plumbing stack cutout, but it is actually cut at the factory using 3D CAD model files. Elegant and purposeful.

St. Thomas is just South of London, ON and North of Port Stanley, which is where I grew up in the summer, so the opportunity to have a tour and record a podcast was very exciting to me. Chris is a manufacturing professional who has worked with The Cakerie, Armo Tools, Convergix Automation (JMP Automation), and ATS Automation ~ so we have a lot in common, as many of these companies have been my clients before, and we have a lot in common, living nearby.

St. Thomas (aka Railway City) is also the "Rail Capital" of Canada. At one time, St. Thomas had around 25 different railroads that came into the city, and it was, and still is, a major hub of manufacturing. For the large amount of wood that is required, being connected to CP and CN rail line is a game-changer for Element5.

Chris is now the CEO of Element5 (a member of the HASSLACHER group) and oversees the entire operation, including a 350-square-foot facility with sanding, pressing, CNC cutting, RF pressing, gluing, laminating, X-ray, vision inspection, material handling, and staff and sales.

The build of the operation took place during covid.  The facility was recently expanded substantially in September of 2025 from 137,000 square feet to over 350,000 square feet, adding in a full Glulam production line, and a two-storey mass timber front office. This expansion also doubled the production of the facility from 50,000 cubic meters to 100,000 cubic meters annually of cross-laminated timber (CLT) and glued-laminated timber (Glulam) products..

Keywords: Dimensional lumber, Engineered lumber, Mass Timber, Element5, St. Thomas, Messenger Freight, Artificial Intelligence. CLT Cross Laminated Timber, Glue Lamination, Build Canada, Canadian Wood Council.

For background information here, see: Element5 Mass Timber Celebrates Grand Opening of Expanded Manufacturing Plant in St. Thomas, Ontario - Element5

Thanks to Diana Tamblyn, Mira Grkavac, and my friends at MPI who did the early connect.
Element5 is located at 70 Dennis Road, St. Thomas, Ontario N5P 0B6

https://www.linkedin.com/in/chris-latour-5a5a044

www.Element5.co for some wonderful pictures!

1 888-670-7713
[email protected]

If you would like to get in touch with us at THE robot industry podcast, you can find me, Jim Beretta on LinkedIn. https://www.linkedin.com/in/jimberetta/

Today’s podcast was produced by Customer Attraction Industrial Marketing and I would like to thank my team: Chris Gray for the music, Geoffrey Bremner for audio production and my business partner Janet.

Be safe out there!

Jim

Jim Beretta

Customer Attraction & The Rob...