Even in a good year, a grain dryer can be worth having. In a challenging year, a grain dryer can be worth its weight in gold. “A dryer is basically an insurance policy. You know you’re going to have to dry some of your grain, you’re hoping that you don’t have to dry 100 per… Read More
What do you get when you mix an enormous manure spreader with electric technology? Well, a medal for starts. The eAutoPower gearbox e8WD for 8R tractors, developed through a partnership between John Deere and Joskin, won Agritechnica’s gold innovation award this year. The technology uses two electric motors as a continuously variable actuator, providing drive… Read More
If there was one buzzword to sum up Agritechnica this year it was “electrification.” We’re not going full-steam into electric tractors, but electric drives on implements are gaining in popularity and interest. Raphael Zohner, with ZF Friedrichshafen AG, was on hand at the show to explain the capabilities of electric drives for implements. “You’re capable… Read More
The good news is tar spot — a new corn leaf disease — has yet to be found in Ontario cornfields. The bad news is it’s only a matter of time before the yield robber is confirmed in the province, says Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs plant pathologist Albert Tenuta. On this episode… Read More
When send soil samples for testing, what do you ask for? If you’re following Ross McKenzie’s advice, there’s likely some real value in testing more than just nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, and sulphur (NPKS). The former soil scientist with Alberta Agriculture says it’s not too late to test soil this year, as frozen ground may require… Read More
The Storm series from Mandako, built on the success of the Twister series, is looking to fill a demand for vertical tillage with disc options. “We have a two-in-one machine here. This can fit both applications, and with the framework and all the rest of it, no problem,” says Murray Hunter, Western Canada sales manager… Read More
The introduction of dicamba-resistant crops created a need for increased drift management at spraying. Enter the ultra-coarse droplet and the nozzles to create them. Pentair Hypro is one company that’s designed an ultra low-drift nozzle to create ultra-coarse droplets, and it was on display at this year’s Agri-Trade event at Red Deer, Alta. Brian Henderson,… Read More
You know you’ve got a hot ticket item at a farm show when you need crowd control while doing an interview. One such stop at Agritechnica was the Steyr booth. On display was a hybrid concept tractor that doesn’t just look like something very different, it’s also designed to be something very different from current… Read More
One extra soybean per plant based on a population of 165 plants per acre equals one bushel. Based on that math, it only takes two or three pods per plant for growers to add six to nine bushels per acre to their harvested yield, says Veritas Farm Management manager Aaron Breimer. Throughout Ontario cash crop… Read More
With the acquisition of Dutch company Machinefabriek Steketee B.V. this year, Lemken has expanded its product portfolio, including the addition of row-crop cultivator EC-Weeder. The cultivator uses the IC-Light camera system to identify rows, and when paired with automatic steering, allows the machine to automatically adjust for accurate placement between rows. “We can go up… Read More
Claas’s new 8000-7000 series combine is delivering more throughput, while also showing its true colours — no, really. “Finally, after many years of being yellow and black because of our affiliation with Caterpillar in the past, we finally got back to the [seed] green and white colours that are traditional CLAAS colours,” says Patrick Arnold,… Read More
With an eye on those who want to create energy independent farms, New Holland introduced its methane-powered T6 model at Agritechnica. As Dominic Hesse, of New Holland, explains, the T6 is the size and type of tractor that would likely be used on a dairy that could support a methane digester and scrubber to close… Read More
The Manitoba based SoilReader made quite the impression at Germany’s Agritechnica. While Shaun Haney covered the many buildings of the bi-annual show, more than a few people encouraged Shaun to check out the new tech, calling it “revolutionary.” Erik Eising patented the technology in 2016, and says the SoilReader is poised to become a real… Read More
Horsch took the opportunity while at Agritechnica this November, to unveil its brand new Leeb 6.300 PT sprayer, and it will soon be available in Canada. “We will actually bring our self-propelled sprayer to Western Canada in 2020 — there will be one demo unit coming — and we’re planning on retailing units as of… Read More
Naïo Technologies’ autonomous weeding robot for vegetable production is heading into 2020 with an improved offering — it is now able to weed around plants, as well as between rows. “We want to offer one solution for farmers who [don’t] want to use herbicides. Mechanical weeding is a huge task — they spend a lot… Read More