Agriculture Canada appears ready to cut the pesticide application technology program at its research centre in Saskatoon. Sources within the department have indicated that the program and manager Tom Wolf’s position would be eliminated “on or about April 11,” but no official announcement had been made as of May 17. The news comes as the […] Read more
Ron Lyseng
Stories by Ron Lyseng
Dual fuel engines on the way
The Earth’s long overlooked abundance of natural gas is finally being tapped as an economical replacement for diesel. As awareness of the availability and everyday potential for the fuel grows, more companies are exploring ways to insert it into the world’s energy mainstream. One of the innovators is Cummins, which just announced that its high-horsepower, […] Read more
Tracks made for tractor without altering design
Different approach | Website explains unique track engineering
Soucy International had something to say when it launched a new website recently. The rubber track manufacturer from Drummondville, Que., wanted to explain to farmers how its engineers design special track sets and hardware for specific tractors. There’s no such thing as one-size-fits-all at Soucy when it comes to tractors, said marketing manager Vincent Cabana-Vaudrin. […] Read moreBudget cuts chop sprayer research
Agriculture Canada appears ready to cut the pesticide application technology program at its research centre in Saskatoon. Sources within the department have indicated that the program and the position of manager Tom Wolf would be eliminated “on or about April 11,” but no official announcement had been made as of May 17. The news comes […] Read more
GreenSeeker keeps nitrogen in balance
Sometimes less is more | GreenSeeker reads the leaves and puts down the appropriate amount of nitrogen for max yields
It’s not often that farmers can invest in a piece of farm equipment that makes them money while sitting in the shed. And when they do drag it out to the field, it sometimes does nothing at all, except save them more money. But that’s the way the GreenSeeker increases profits, says producer Lee Moats […] Read more
Prairie precision farming boosted with RTK upgrade
Fifteen new base stations | Farmers in the coverage area can conduct precise RTK seeding, spraying and ditch drainage on Can-Net system
The recent addition of 15 Can-Net base stations brings the total to 265 towers. As a result, the company is now providing full RTK VRS (visual reference station) to nearly all arable prairie areas. The coverage area has access to one centimetre horizontal accuracy and two cm vertical accuracy, says David Janssen, development manager for […] Read more
Crop Stalker targets weeds between rows
While Canadian farmers can seed between stubble rows with equipment such as the Seed Hawk SBR, Australian farmers spray between rows of growing crops with the Crop Stalker. The principle behind the two machines is the same: keep the working tool precisely in the middle between two rows. But what they do and how they […] Read more
Electrostatics make plants eager to accept spray
Opposites attract | When positively charged droplets zero in on leaves, they become negative, allowing droplets to bond
The Spectrum system on Gary Johnson’s helicopter employs the same basic charged particle technology that the spray paint industry has used for decades. The spray droplet is electrically charged, and the target has the opposite charge. The droplet can’t help but be drawn to the target. It doesn’t matter if the target is a car […] Read more
Electrostatic spraying gives plants big hug
Zeros in on target | Charged droplets attracted to underside of leaves
An aerial desiccation mix applied at only one U.S. gallon of liquid per acre achieved 100 percent kill in an Iowa soybean field last summer. The potent mix had a one to three ratio of Roundup to water, applied at a rate of one gallon per acre through a Spectrum electrostatic system mounted on a […] Read more
Plan around climate, not weather
Rain, rain, go away | Some climatologists think the rain may do just that — should producers prepare for a dry spell?
FARGO, N.D. — Farmers’ decisions are influenced by a factor over which they have no control — long-term weather patterns. One obvious example of how weather affects decisions is the trend toward rubber tracks on power units and implements. More farmers would likely spend the extra money on tracks if they knew for certain that […] Read more
