BRANDON — Growers accustomed to sectional control on their sprayer booms might want to consider a move to individual nozzle control. “The Capstan Pinpoint system takes everything one step further. It goes inside what you now have as sectional control,” said Capstan representative Garnet Welykholowa. “Individual nozzle on-off is controlled by a box in your […] Read more
Ron Lyseng
Stories by Ron Lyseng
Old technology given new life with unique design
Patents on the grain divider expired decades ago, but the basic design lives on, thanks to new materials
BRANDON — A Canadian company has brought 100-year-old grain sample divider technology into the 21st century. The Boerner grain divider was invented a century ago to solve the problem of plump kernels rolling to the top and heavy kernels going to the bottom when large samples were poured to make smaller portions. The all-metal machine […] Read moreIndividual nozzle controls save money, says grower
Sterling Hilton of Strathmore, Alta., who has two full spraying seasons with his Capstan PinPoint system on a 120 foot boom, is a meticulous record keeper. “We’ve seen anywhere from a six percent saving in chemical up to 14 percent saving, depending on the shape of the field,” he said. “That’s versus the sectional control […] Read more
Micronutrient management: less weight, same punch
Advancements in micronutrient coatings on fertilizer prills provide more effective distribution in the field
Since the 1970s, growers wanting to apply micronutrients have relied on large granules mixed in with their nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium fertilizer. The problem has been that this can result in a 150:1 ratio of fertilizer prills to micronutrient prills. The large granules are far apart from each other, which inhibits a uniform spread of […] Read more
WolfTrax develops method to put phosphorus in its place
Think about going to the field carting along 50 pounds of a high tech phosphorus fertilizer concentrate that packs the same punch as 1,500 lb. of conventional granular phosphorus. Just to sweeten the phosphorus cake, what if it was no longer delivered as a distinct separate product but was instead firmly affixed to the nitrogen […] Read more
Dedicated ditch device reduces rural road costs
BRANDON — Farmers and rural municipalities that maintain gravel and dirt roads shudder at the bills for grading, mowing and shrub grinding. “We had a number of customers come to us, looking for a better way to take care of their roads with chemicals rather than mechanically,” said Ryan Suffron of Ag Shield. “They wanted […] Read more
Green light signals red to heavy loads
Revolutionary system Measuring grain in a hopper trailer depends on green lights instead of digital weigh scales
CORRECTION: This story originally contained the wrong phone number for Load Judge. The correct phone number is 605-380-7585. We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused. BRANDON — Loading a trailer to the exact legal limit on the first try is an art. Drivers often go to the scale two, three or four times […] Read moreGround proof the roadside sprayer
Custom applicator Larry Dyck put 600 miles on his Ag Shield Road Side Sprayer last year, doing road work for the Rural Municipality of Chesterfield in western Saskatchewan. “They had me spray some of these roads because they didn’t want to grade due to the erosion factor,” Dyck said. “On those roads, I eliminated one […] Read more
Poly cup flighting gives tender seeds more TLC
The ability to auger seed at the same rate as a rubber belt conveyor but with 4.4 percent less seed damage might catch farmers’ attention. Researchers at Ohio State University recently moved soybean seed through a six-inch auger with poly cupped flighting, and ended up with a germination rate of 86 percent. A rubber paddled […] Read more
Poly cup results prove ‘dollar impact’ of better germination
Canola’s tendency to lose its protective coating doesn’t make it an easy seed to work with. The tiny seeds becomes susceptible to a myriad of soil borne diseases and insects when the coating flakes off, often driving the germination rate down into the 50 percent bracket. Losing half their seeds to flaking is a major […] Read more
