An estimated 40 to 50 percent of the prairie anhydrous ammonia fleet had been potentially tied up in Transport Canada red tape as of Jan. 12, meaning they would not have seen service this spring. It was a tense week as the players negotiated a path to allow existing NH3 tanks to temporarily circumvent the […] Read more
Ron Lyseng
Stories by Ron Lyseng
The back-story: anhydrous tanks good for another year
The Western Producer reported a year ago that a Transport Canada bureaucratic schmozzle was tying up anhydrous ammonia carts in Western Canada, thus preventing them from hauling NH3. In the Jan. 12, 2017, story titled, “Chaos in fertilizer sector over NH3 tank rules,” we reported that the existing standard TC51 had been stricken from the […] Read more
New Technotill packer does dual side band
The Technotill packer plate introduced by Walter and Betty Schoenhofer in 1996 has been re-developed with assistance from Saskatchewan farmers and a 3D printer. TNT Version 2 will be available for spring seeding. Where the original TNT had a fertilizer port on only one side, Version 2 is symmetrical with dual band ports. The previous […] Read more
Back to basics with seeders
Expensive, heavy, complicated seeding machines are being challenged by lower-cost, high-speed compact-disc machines and good old-fashioned shank cultivators with narrow knife openers. Over the past two decades, one of the devices that’s become popular among farmers with simple seeding systems is the Technotill (TNT) packer. Although the original Version 1 TNT functions well and continues […] Read more
Canola disc dials in better profit
The debate about seeding canola with an air seeder versus planting canola with a row crop planter has pretty well died down, with planters sneaking in as the unofficial winner. In 2017, Pioneer seed dealer Keith Nachtegaele wanted to see for himself if the planter advantage was as great as some people have been claiming […] Read more
Tape one atom thick measures plant growth
A clear strip of graphene tape, just one atom thick and housing hundreds of microscopic sensors, tells plant breeders which strains best use water and nutrients and therefore grow faster. In corn breeding experiments at Iowa State University, the sensors allow researchers to measure the time it takes for two kinds of corn plants to […] Read more
Horsch’s Maestro gets Canola Ready Technology
Horsch has introduced a canola kit to fit all Maestro SW row crop planters. The Canola Ready Technology kit allows quick change between small seed and large seed crops. The package includes a set of stainless steel seed discs and quick change metering components. When seeding canola, the kit gives a grower all the agronomic […] Read more
VIDEO: In-ground steel continues to evolve
FARGO, N.D. — Within the overall realm of cultivation and seed and fertilizer placement equipment, the in-ground working tool is the one singular component that continues to evolve rapidly. Every farm show seems to feature new soil-working steel. Money is a chief reason for the on-going focus on developing new soil-working tools. When dealing with […] Read more
Urea on snow? Just say no
The calendar says, ‘yes, do it,’ but the data says, ‘whoa’; researchers adamant that applying urea on frozen fields is a bad idea
A few prairie farmers are taking advantage of fields almost barren of snow this winter to apply urea, a practice akin to spreading hundred dollar bills to frozen soil. That’s the opinion of Rigas Karamanos, senior agronomist for Koch Agronomic Services in Calgary. “This is not agronomically sound. Somebody’s telling them it’s OK, but it’s […] Read moreFertilizer spreader sales on the rise
Global warming or no global warming, fact is we farm in the land of ice and snow. We don’t have the luxury of a large scenic picture window to do our seeding. Sales of granular spreaders are up, and our climate is the reason. As growers become more attuned to the importance of their seeding […] Read more
