Microbial communities in agricultural soil are receiving increasing attention from both the scientific community and crop input companies. When it comes to growing a crop, the importance of a soil’s micro-organism cannot be understated: they repel or outcompete pathogens, manipulate the hormonal signals of plants and increase the bioavailability of soil-borne nutrients. But how closely […] Read more
Robin Booker
Stories by Robin Booker
Taking control of the soil one strip at a time
WOODSTOCK, Ont. — Strip-till has been lurking on the fringe of Ontario agriculture since the provincial agriculture ministry and universities began promoting the practice through research in the 1980s. In the 1980s and 1990s “there was some grower up-take, but certainly not a large amount. But I think nowadays with some of the newer machines […] Read more
Most farms likely to see heavy use of grain dryers
After the 2016 harvest nightmare on the Prairies, grain bin and dryer manufacturers had a good run installing systems capable of quickly drying large amounts of crop. Many farms are now well-positioned to dry tough grain, which is fortunate because there is a pile of it coming off this fall. But even with a good […] Read more
Morris Bale Scoop now handles more sizes
Woodstock, Ont. — Handling small square bales just got a little easier thanks to recent changes Morris made to their 12SR Bale Scoop. “This is a piece of equipment we’ve had out for a number of years,” said Lisa Gaskin, ProAG product manager. “It’s used to pick up three-by-three, three-by-four and four-by-four large square bales, […] Read more
Show contest winner opens office in Sask.
LANGHAM, Sask. — For the past two years, the Saskatoon Regional Economic Development Authority has picked up the travel costs to the Ag In Motion outdoor farm show for four companies from outside of Canada. The companies are chosen through SREDA’s Agriculture Technology Harvest Program and this year slightly less than 30 companies applied. “We […] Read more
New chemical-mixing station helps with record-keeping
A new chemical-mixing station can save applicators time with mixing and reporting of chemical batches. Iowa-based Praxidyn won a gold standard award this summer at Canada’s Farm Progress Show for their Mixmate portable chemical mixing station. Operators pour chemical jugs into the station by placing them on the rinse nozzle in the stainless steel inductor. […] Read more
New planter can ‘drastically’ reduce seeding rates
REGINA — Vaderstad has tweaked its Tempo L planter to better fit broad acre and small oilseed producing farms. Its latest offering, the Tempo L 24, is specifically designed for small seed capacity and is offered up to 40-feet wide. “The small seeds kit was a redesign of a Tempo metering system that permitted the […] Read more
Give bins pills to ensure they stay healthy
Full-coverage bin sensors developed at the Prairie Agricultural Machinery Institute are based on electronic bin boluses
Grain storage sensors being developed at the Prairie Agricultural Machinery Institute use over-the-counter electrical components but offer coverage in large bins that is very difficult to achieve. “The point of them is to try and get full coverage of moisture and temperature throughout a grain bin because we found that the options that are available […] Read more
Weed Clipper handles weeds reaching for the sky
REGINA — Bourgault Tillage Tools is selling what is essentially one of the world’s largest mowers, clipping weeds that stand above the crop canopy. The BTT Weed Clipper is a 50-foot wide power take-off driven solution for both organic growers struggling with tall, fast maturing weeds and conventional growers struggling with herbicide resistant weeds that […] Read more
Xarvio scouting app helps producers identify crop problems
LANGHAM, Sask. — A free app that helps growers identify weeds, disease and leaf damage is now available at Google Play or the App Store. The Xarvio Scouting app is part of Bayer’s digital farming company, Xarvio, which was launched in 2017. Warren Bills of Bayer CropScience Xarvio Digital Farming said the app was designed […] Read more
