The Alberta government is moving ahead with plans to reduce its funding and involvement in agricultural research, although what that will look like is still to be determined, according to the provincial agriculture minister. The United Conservative Party’s budget, tabled last fall, included a plan to reduce spending on ag research by $34.1 million over… Read More
New Holland’s Genesis T8 Series brings a whole new cab to the T8 line, with the company’s precision farming platform, improved visibility, and enhanced comfort, and it just so happens it was on display at Agritechnica in Hanover, Germany. With Precision Land Management (PLM) Intelligence, Genesis T8 tractors offer advanced connectivity between operators, vehicles, advisors… Read More
The customer is always right, but who is the customer? If you’re a grocery store or a coffee shop trying to stay on-trend, is it consumer opinion that matters most, or those of your shareholders, as the pressure for profits rises? “The demands of the average consumer are pretty intuitive — they want affordable, tasty… Read More
Good equipment design isn’t just about doing the best job; it also takes into account shifting agronomic trends and practices. Curtis de Gooijer, agronomist with Bourgault Industries Ltd., was recently at the Crop Production Show in Saskatoon, Sask., to highlight their agronomy program and some of the recent in-field trials that have been conducted. The… Read More
Old-style flow indicators on sprayers can be tricky — keeping an eye on those floating balls, placing it somewhere in your cab that is visible, and ensuring your sprayer is working all at the same time can be difficult. To address the issue, Canadian manufacturer Wilger Industries Ltd. is headed into the first full production… Read More
Have you ever wished you could shoot seeds into their rows, rather than drop them? Väderstad’s PowerShoot row-unit does just that. It shoots seeds into the ground through air pressure, with as much precision as if you were planting in the garden with your own hands. RealAgriculture’s Shaun Haney caught up with Lars Thylen, of… Read More
Representative grain sampling is essential, but not always straight forward. How can you ensure the place you are selling to is getting a complete and accurate sample of your entire truck or bin? Ken Jackson saw a need for change in this department and decided it was time for a fully automated sampling system, so… Read More
Our soils may arguably be one of the most essential factors in our farms. Without soil, where and how would we grow our crops? John Deere seems to agree with this statement with the rollout of the 8RX tractor series at Agritechnica in Hanover, Germany. RealAgriculture’s Shaun Haney caught up with Simon Schowalter at the… Read More
If you’ve driven the open stretch of Trans-Canada highway between Winnipeg and Brandon, you may have noticed a new build project not far from Portage la Prairie. French company Roquette is set to open its pea processing plant by the end of 2020, which means it’s gearing up to start purchasing yellow peas this fall…. Read More
Launched at Crop Production show at Saskatoon, Sask., the latest addition in the Väderstad tillage series made an appearance — the inline sideband knife. The knife is an insertable tip that creates a side-band effect. It can be used on any of the company’s drills worldwide, but is particularly useful for western Canadian conditions. “We’ve… Read More
Put away your wrenches and forget about scuffing up knuckles — an award-winning system from samo Maschinenbau GmbH allows operators to adjust the processing width of hoe units from the cab, in as little as five seconds. VarioCHOP uses a hydraulic cylinder coupled to a heavy-duty steering angle sensor at every hoeing unit, to allow… Read More
Monosem’s MultiSlide planter lineup is allowing operators to vary inter-row spacing to accommodate a wide range of crops, all from the tractor cab. The range uses a claw system on the metering units, with rails integrated into the frame to make sliding possible. Inter-row spacing can be set in 2.5 cm increments from 45 to… Read More
The topic of trade was heavily discussed among attendees at this year’s CropSphere conference. This comes as no surprise to most, as Canadian farmers continue to deal with trade uncertainty on the global stage. One of the keynote speakers, Globe and Mail columnist Andrew Coyne, touched on how politics relate to both trade overall and… Read More
Move over antique tractors: it’s time to make way for the very modern, very bizarre concept of watching people playing video games. But not just any video game, of course — no, we’re talking about Farming Simulator 19, a realistic, fully-involved video game that has over 2 million downloads worldwide. RealAgriculture’s coverage of Agritechnica 2019… Read More
A self-propelled beet harvester may seem like an overly-specified piece of equipment to own, but for beet farmers, there is often a short window to get the crop in, and few hands to help. “It’s just the efficiency and maneuverability — one man is operating a defoliator and a harvester and a cart,” says ROPA’s… Read More