BRANDON — Bale and wrap is the only option when wet weather prevents proper hay dry-down and farmers aren’t set up for silage bunkers. Forty-five to 55 percent moisture hay starts to spoil rather than ferment if a wet bale sits for more than 12 hours. Oxygen will spurs growth of moulds and yeasts, making […] Read more
Ron Lyseng
Stories by Ron Lyseng
Master mud for a more precise seed depth
Clean packer wheels | Spinning rotary mud scraper lets you drill seed at correct depth
BRANDON — Mud on a packer wheel destroys depth control and often pulls seeds out of the trench. It can clog up packers so badly that they start to skid over the seed row, making ruts and dragging cover soil from the seed trench. Both scenarios wreak havoc on the crop’s potential, and both can […] Read more
Rowtrac more than a narrow Quadtrac
BRANDON — Big four-wheel drive tractors are great for pulling planters, but they also tramples plants when used to side dress nitrogen, cultivate between rows or pull a sprayer. Trampling has always been more of an issue with row crops than with broad-acre field crops because row crops generally have a higher value. It is […] Read more
Side dressing nitrogen gives options
Timing of nitrogen applications | Making final nitrogen decisions in June can save money and bump yields
BRANDON — North Dakota corn growers have found that summer side dressing allows them to reduce nitrogen rates while increasing yields. Side dressing is the norm in the heart of the U.S. corn belt but has only recently moved into the northern border states, said Todd Botterill, distributor for Thurston Blue-Jet application equipment. Two summers […] Read more
Pit stop fueling in the field
BRANDON — Farmers go to great lengths during seeding, spraying and harvest to keep machines moving. However, reloading those machines with fuel tends to be slow. At harvest, the skid tank on the truck might be only marginally larger than the one on a large combine. Perhaps a 990 gallon diesel hauling trailer with a […] Read more
Kioti’s pink yard tractor raises money for charity
BRANDON — It was pretty hard to walk past the Hepson Equipment display at Ag Days without noticing the pink, 30 horsepower Kioti CK30 yard tractor. The normally orange tractor had been painted pink for the Manitoba Westman’s dragon boat team. “We hired Mr. (Murray) Turner (and Dean Munshie of Turner’s Autobody) at Carroll , […] Read more
Double disc drill leaves past in the dust
Older farmers remember the field downtime, perpetual greasing and bearing replacement and some swear they never want to see another disc drill as long as they live. However, Kim Hartman said it’s time to put the past behind us. The owner of K-Hart Industries in Elrose, Sask., thinks every bearing on a modern disc drill […] Read more
Bale wagon doesn’t get a bad rep for wrap
Hastier haylage Stop wrap damage and cut bale retrieval time in half with self-unloading wagon
Commercial hay producers might be interested in a new round bale wagon that gently retrieves 10, five-foot-wide wrapped bales in 10 minutes and deposits them at the side of the field without damaging the plastic wrap. “On my farm, the barn is beside the field, so it’s no problem picking and dropping 10 bales in […] Read moreCase debuts twin row planters
Case recently introduced a new twin row planter for prairie farmers who want to increase corn yields or move into a longer crop rotation. Corn growers who want to in-crease plant populations without changing cropping practices are the main twin row market, but other niche markets also exist, including the Prairies. The prairie corn line […] Read more
Big boom covers ground quickly
FARGO, N.D. — Jay Mercil had to tighten up his thinking cap two years ago when Ron Sylte ordered a 3,100 gallon sprayer with a 150 foot boom. Mercil, who co-owns Sprayflex in Detroit Lakes, Minnesota, said his family has built truck style sprayers since the late 1990s, and Sylte has been buying their truck […] Read more
