Degelman’s Pro-Till 33 and Pro-Till 40 are certainly heavy-weight competitors, weighing in at over 32 000 lbs, and carrying it all in their frames. And somehow, with all that weight, they still compete at high speeds, levelling ruts, shredding heavy fall residue and breaking up clods at over 10 miles per hour. The units… Read More
Category: Tillage
The soybean harvest is likely behind by about two weeks for much of Ontario and parts of the U.S. For those who may want to get wheat or cover crops in, time is of the essence, and that can mean that waiting for ideal soil conditions before planting or working the ground doesn’t happen. But… Read More
Can deep-tilling soybean residue be justified? A researcher from the University of Manitoba is looking at whether tillage practices need to change as farmers in Western Canada grow more soybeans. Despite leaving less plant matter behind than most crops, it’s not uncommon to see soybean ground cultivated to leave a dark surface that warms up and dries out… Read More
Ontario-based tillage equipment manufacturer Salford Group, Inc. has acquired a Georgia, U.S.-based company that makes spreaders for the agriculture, poultry, turf and construction industries. The deal to buy BBI Spreaders closed on October 2nd. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed. “BBI is a great fit for us because they come to the market… Read More
Early this year, Sunflower announced seven new models to its Sunflower 6631 vertical tillage series. The new models offer widths from 20’5″ to 34’9″, expanding on previous models above 32′. Sunflower 6631 units feature the much-touted Sunflower Saber blades, which are 22 inches in diameter, with twenty-five flutes and a serrated edge. The blades are staggered, offset… Read More
With the increasing push to use more cover crops in Ontario, particularly red clover in winter wheat, producers are looking for tillage options for managing the cover crop stand. The tillage demonstration at Canada’s Outdoor Farm Show last week focused on conservation tillage options for red clover, as outlined by independent agronomist Pat Lynch in… Read More
One year and one field does not a trial make, says Mark Van Veen, with Salford, in regards to some of the findings gleaned from the company’s tillage trials in Michigan. Salford has spent a few years evaluating several types and timing of tillage in an effort to put together reasonable comparisons of expected planter… Read More
As the cool, wet spring drags on in Ontario, many farmers are wrestling with whether they have time for tillage or should they just plant as soon as the soil is fit. In this episode of the Agronomy Geeks Ontario podcast, Bernard Tobin talks tillage strategy with Salford Farm Machinery’s Jim Boak. Are certain types… Read More
There’s nothing quite like demo plots — where else will you find head to head comparisons of one variety or practice compared against its neighbour? The trouble with plots, though, is that you only usually see them once and then have to wait for data months later to find out what the real difference was… Read More
As the snow finally melts in Ontario, cash crop farmers have a lot to do in a short window. There’s still plenty of corn out there and lots of unfinished tillage work. In this episode of the Ontario Agronomy Geeks podcast, Bernard Tobin talks strategy with agronomist Mervyn Erb of Agri-Solve Inc. — what should… Read More
As the snow slowly recedes and farmers are itching to get the clover on (but not N yet, please!), now is a great time of year to make assessments on the condition the seedbed left by fall field work. You can learn a lot taking the time now to tour your fields, eye up some… Read More
First, a confession: I love plowing. Growing up, fall plowing was always one of my favourite chores, and I’ve still got the trophies I won in various county plowing matches as a teenager. Even now, few things give me as much satisfaction as an arrow-straight, neatly-turned set of furrows. It makes me a dinosaur, I… Read More
Lemken’s Heliodor (a compact disc harrow designed to clean up plowed ground) has been manufactured in Europe for over a decade, and has recently been introduced to North America to help with residue management and seedbed preparation. With a three-point hitch linkage available in up to 6m (20′) working widths, the Heliodor’s relatively light-weight means… Read More
Yes, compaction happens. You know that, I know that. But we in Canada are ever so fortunate because while compaction does happen, Mother Nature, at her cruelest -30 degree C self, actually helps us battle it with our wicked Prairie freeze-thaw cycle. Right? Well, yes, but a more resounding no, actually. Marla Riekman, land management… Read More
Farmers can look forward to a new LEMKEN compact-disc for the 2014 growing season, as the company rolls out the Rubin 12 compact-disc harrow for primary tillage applications. Designed to work at depths of 5 to 8 inches, the Rubin 12 delivers intensive, uniform mixing and crumbling in one pass – even in very heavy… Read More