K-Hart has taken a big step forward when it comes to its toolbar offerings with the launch of its Spyder frame. The Spyder is a complete redesign that offers features unavailable in competitor toolbars. It uses folding technology that makes the frame take the shape of a spider where the internal wings initiate the fold-up […] Read more
Robin Booker
Stories by Robin Booker
Sap analysis shines when making fertilizer decisions
Performing plant sap analysis throughout the growing season provides unequal insight into a soil’s ability to supply nutrients, said John Kempf, founder of Advancing Eco Agriculture from Middlefield, Ohio. He said the nutrients plants absorb from a soil is the true indicator of what it can actually supply, which traditional soil-testing methods do not measure. […] Read more
Prairie planting precisely takes tools
Canola seed is susceptible to being chewed up by a poorly set air seeder. It isn’t surprising multiple equipment manufacturers have developed seeding systems that can both singulate canola seeds and still keep up to the logistical demands of broad-acre oilseed production. Some air seeders used to seed canola are lucky to reach a 70 […] Read more
Weed management improved by multiple methods
Weed management is challenging in pulse crops because of limited herbicide options, poor competitiveness and now the emergence of herbicide-resistant weeds. So to help develop integrated weed management recommendations for fababeans, Amanda Fedorchuk, a masters student at the University of Saskatchewan, has developed an experiment that uses residual herbicides with cultural and mechanical weed control. […] Read more
Pea leaf weevil advance slowed by cold, dry prairie climate
The pest typically spreads into new areas by walking, which is another reason its expansion across the Prairies has been slow
It’s been tough slogging for the pea leaf weevil to expand its range in prairie pea and fababean crops. “One of the factors that we think is contributing to diminishing populations, at least here in Saskatchewan, are these hard cold snaps without a whole lot of snow. So these animals are a little bit more […] Read more
Farmers are buying equipment, used and new
Double digit sales growth in farm machinery is beating 2008 numbers as pent up demand and incomes rise
The agricultural equipment market continues to show strength coming off a very strong 2020. “The March sales numbers, this is year-to-date, we’re seeing substantial double-digit percentage growth in all categories,” said John Schmeiser, chief executive officer of the Western Equipment Dealers Association. “These numbers are unprecedented and surpass the largest numbers that we’ve ever had […] Read more
Trimble looks beyond the headlands in the future
Autonomous operations stretch past the fields’ edges and work with whole-farm operational logistics
Horsch and Trimble are working together on autonomous-agricultural robots. Phillip Horsch, owner of Horsch, tweeted a video of a robot pulling a planter during its spring testing regime, the first of three robotic prototypes the company plans to test this year. The robot in Horsch’s video is equipped with Trimble technology, and is a cab-less, […] Read more
One farmer’s one-man band machinery control
Moving back and forth between the cab and equipment while the tractor is running takes time, energy and risk
A farmer from Grande Prairie, Alta., was tired of climbing in and out of his tractor to engage and disengage the power take-off while bagging and extracting grain, so he built a remote-controlled device to make these jobs easier. “It goes into the cubbyhole and then attaches to the screw points the little padded cushion […] Read more
Finding green on green and dead where it needs to be
Reliably identifying green weeds among a green crop has long been a goal for spot spraying herbicides
There’s a race to build computer programs that instantaneously differentiates weeds and crops within images taken by sprayer-boom mounted cameras. Green-on-brown spraying, where cameras identify plants on brown soil background for burndown applications, has been around for at least 15 years. Weed-It, John Deere See & Spray Select and Amazone AmaSpot can all target individual […] Read more
Lonely diesel-powered, laser-blasting, weed killing robot
A Seattle-based startup has launched a 9,000 pound autonomous robot that uses a 72-horsepower Cummins diesel engine to power weed-blasting lasers. The machine was built to manage weeds in vegetable row crops, although it may also have a fit on Austin Powers’ nemesis Dr. Evil’s farm, if he had one. “We’re focusing on low-lying row […] Read more
