You may think of them as a local manufacturing company employing local people selling to local farmers, but many Canadian agriculture companies have a presence that extends well beyond their backyards. Their global reach was evident at Agritechnica — the world’s largest ag machinery show held in Germany earlier this month — as 65 Canadian companies set up… Read More
Category: Tillage
Have you tried baling corn stalks? Agronomist Pat Lynch thinks you can’t bale enough. At Canada’s Outdoor Farm Show last month, Lynch helped co-ordinate the Corn Stalk Baling Demonstration. Afterwards he joined the Corn School to share his thoughts on whether Ontario farmers should be jumping on the stalk baling bandwagon. Today’s corn hybrids are… Read More
We’re into the thick of the corn growing season, where you finally get to start seeing the real result of all the hard work that’s gone into this crop before now. The 2015 season has been a trying one for many Ontario growers as a great planting season gave way to too little, then too… Read More
The Kelly Diamond Harrow was yet another implement demoed at Ag in Motion last month. The tool is used with the goal of returning crop residue to the soil, accelerating breakdown and improving soil organic carbon levels, all without the depth of most tillage implements. Each mulching chain link contains an abrasive-resistant concave disc, designed to add weight,… Read More
Salford introduced two new vertical tillage units in June, just in time for Canada’s Farm Progress Show: the I-2200 and the I-4200, both part of the “independent” series. The latter of the two, the hybrid I-4200, was also on display at Ag in Motion last week. The I-4200 retains a lot of the same design… Read More
Preliminary research conducted in southern Manitoba is casting some doubt on the common belief that dark, tilled soil is best for planting soybeans in northern growing regions. Greg Bartley, a graduate student working together with Dr. Yvonne Lawley at the University of Manitoba, is in his second year of comparing how soybeans respond when planted into different… Read More
Do you know your four Rs of fertility management? The 4Rs mean using the right fertilizer source, at the right rate for your soil and crop, making sure the nutrient is available in the right form at the right time. If you haven’t ever heard of the 4R initiative, welcome to a new focus for… Read More
We should know better than to be surprised by the weather, but wow, some areas of the province have gone from too dry to rain, rain, rain. In some areas, reports of up to six inches of rain is causing ponding, flooding, and is delaying first planting, let alone replanting. And so, we can think… Read More
Tillage, seeding and fertilizer application equipment manufacturer Salford Group has announced the acquisition of Valmar Airflo Inc., a Manitoba-based maker of seed and granular spreaders. “We are thrilled to add Valmar Airflo to our family,” said Geof Gray, Chief Executive Officer of Salford Group, in a news release. “This merger will allow us to offer a complete… Read More
We’re about to flip the calendar to May, and, perhaps surprisingly, soil moisture is becoming a bit of an issue for those rolling in the fields, says Peter Johnson, in this week’s Wheat Pete’s Word. What can you do about soil that’s drying out too quickly? Well, you’re doing to have to adjust planting depth… Read More
When Mark Muench was frustrated with the strip tillage tool options available to him, he decided to work with Salford to develop a new tool that would tackle the conditions on his farm near Ogden, Iowa. Over a decade of adjusting his soil management practices and equipment went in to getting strip tillage right on… Read More
Concerned about soil compaction? You’re not alone. Soil structure and health is increasingly on farmers’ radars for very good reason — the more researchers uncover about soil, the more links we have connecting soil quality to everything from crop yield, to nutrient run-off risks and erosion problems. The unfortunate thing about compaction, says Jodi DeJong-Hughes,… Read More
If you’ve noticed soil getting a whole lot more attention lately, it’s for good reason. Not only are scientists beginning to unlock many of the mysteries of what lies beneath, but agriculture has also started to wake up to the importance and potential of soil management on yield. Farmers have always known that soil is… Read More
If you happen to pass the TRCW-24, you’ll need a second glance — it’s huge. A standard disc blade is an overwhelming 36? in diameter, and somehow, there’s an even bigger option: the 1,100 lb, 42? disc. The implement is designed for deep plowing, mixing, aerating and plowing through heavy trash. Indeed, the machine can plow through tree stumps, small trees and… Read More
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