Research bumps winter wheat crop insurance deadline a whole month to allow more farmers to plant the “cover crop”
Winter wheat growers traditionally like seeding into canola stubble, something that becomes a problem when harvest runs late and pushes up against the crop insurance seeding cut-off date of September 1. The equation can be made worse by some growers deliberately planting canola later to avoid frost damage and flea beetles or to chase higher […] Read more
Ron Lyseng
Stories by Ron Lyseng
Agco buys 85 percent of Trimble in $2 billion deal
Financial arrangement also puts all four components of Agco’s grain and protein business under review
Agco has acquired 85 percent of Trimble Ag assets and technologies at a cash price of $2 billion. The deal was announced as a joint venture Sept. 28. An Agco release said it creates a precision ag platform that enables Trimble to provide a variety of technologies compatible across major brands and equipment models. Andrew […] Read more
Cows essential element in organic production
A Manitoba producer finds a delicate balance to help him boost production while maintaining organic certification
Ile de Chenes, Man. — Three organic farmers swap fields back and forth, keeping land certified five years before returning to alfalfa. Their rotation is a delicate balance, but worth the complexity. For Ile de Chenes farmer John Gehrer, the payoff this fall has been significant for his low-input organic system, considering his management plan […] Read more
Between the rows without GPS
John Gehrer’s organic weed management strategy uses technology farmers have employed since the first wheat was domesticated. He controls weeds by cultivating between the rows without harming the crop. To enable between-row cultivation, all crops are planted on 22-inch row spacing with an old John Deere corn planter. He has a variety of discs for […] Read more
Air shredder manhandles heavy stover
Efficiency in the field is important when dealing with cantankerous BT corn stover and other stubborn crop residues. To meet that challenge, Loftness is introducing a new side discharge windrower/shredder. The Air Delivery Side Discharge Windrower is not a re-named copy of an earlier model, but a new shredder that’s fresh off the Loftness CAD […] Read more
Phantom loss secretly siphons cash
Early combining reduces risk from weather, insects and phantom loss, which could be the only silver lining in this year’s harvest cloud. Phantom loss describes the invisible grain loss from the combine’s threshing systems, according to a recent news release from GSI. Farmers minimize the risk of phantom loss by cutting their crops early. In […] Read more
Seeding, fertilizer rates explored
The Manitoba Crop Alliance (MCA) is calling for participants for their 2023-24 winter wheat trials. In its ongoing Research on the Farm program, MCA plans to explore seeding rates and fertilizer use. MCA research trial specialist Daryl Rex says the purpose of Research on the Farm trials is to take science-based recommendations and ground truth […] Read more
Clean grain keeps markets open for all
Contaminants in grain not only lower your price on that load, it can also have a negative impact on future buyers and end users. The solution? Keep it Clean. Started by the Canola Council of Canada in 2016, the Keep it Clean program has been at the forefront of promoting hygiene in grain shipments, whether […] Read more
Grain drying cost drops drastically
The cost to dry corn today is about 2.4 percent of corn’s value. That’s a significant drop from 1980 when the cost was about 18 percent of the corn’s value. On the Prairies, this change results from more efficient dryers and better access to natural gas and liquified propane, says GSI specialist Lee Bonn. “In […] Read more
How to best gas up the grain dryers
The Prairie Agricultural Machinery Institute began began dryer research four decades ago, publishing its first report in 1985 and establishing it as the dryer authority. PAMI engineer Lorne Greiger offers his insights on fuels and dryer types. Greiger said he thinks portability is the main advantage of propane. As new farming areas open and are […] Read more
