When Jeff Penner travelled to Liberia last year, he had excellent cellphone service everywhere, from down in the deepest darkest jungle swamp up to the highest remote mountain peaks. “Last June, I spent 10 days around Greenville, Liberia, in the heart of the African jungle, where Ebola started,” says Penner. “I had four bars on […] Read more
Ron Lyseng
Stories by Ron Lyseng
Rural cell service: where it’s at — or isn’t
The coloured maps depicting cellular service across the Prairies don’t paint an accurate picture. The dead spots are conspicuous by their absence. Even the Trans-Canada Highway is pocked with no signal pits. Many developing nations have better cell coverage at a lower cost, according to Manitoba farmer and entrepreneur Jeff Penner, who spent time in […] Read more
Making more land from land you have
Farmland prices foster technology designed to grind stumps, trees and roots to help make land productive quickly
LANGHAM, Sask. — As North American farmland values continue climbing, farmers are eyeing areas where potentially productive soil remains covered by forest and scrub brush. In regions like the prairie parkland, some of the best land is also the stoniest land, which explains why it remains in the natural state. The old low-tech slash-and-burn method […] Read more
One pass conversion: turning bush row into a flower bed
The time lapse between putting a dozer blade to the bush and pulling your air drill into that new field can be three costly years; or more. There is an up-front investment in clearing new land, with payback some ways off over the horizon. Along the way, one of the only things that grows on […] Read more
VIDEO: The Titan of fat tire technology looks for good year
LANGHAM, Sask. — The three factors driving tractor tire technology today are compaction, road lope and tire hop. Titan Low Side Wall (LSW) tires address all three issues, according to field technician Toby Carson. “We accomplish this by lowering the sidewall. We’re doing to tractor tires what manufacturers have done to car and pickup tires,” […] Read more
Vertical till with Versatile Viking
LANGHAM, Sask. — Versatile has entered the vertical tillage tool world with the Viking, designed to address many issues that faced early generation vertical till machines. Viking falls into the high-speed compact category. “This is definitely a next-generation machine,” said Versatile’s Trevor Jubenville. “The Viking is a vertical tillage tool. It’s not a cultivator, not […] Read more
Multi-tasking Multifarmer crosses over
This mid-sized Italian 156 h.p. field tractor with a nine-metre telehandler boom makes its debut on the Prairies
LANGHAM, Sask. — The Italian equipment manufacturer Merlo, known for small horticultural tractors, took one giant step onto the Canadian Prairies when it debuted its new Multifarmer at the recent Ag in Motion farm show near Saskatoon. “The Multifarmer has a 156 horsepower Deutz Tier 4i. It does everything a conventional North American tractor in […] Read more
Water Cannon blasts 2,000 gallons per minute
LANGHAM, Sask. — Large-scale drainage of prairie sloughs and potholes can cause serious flooding issues downstream. Hydrologists concerned with soil moisture depletion say most remaining wetlands cannot be economically drained, nor should they be. However, a dozen or more shallow little nuisance ponds scattered across a half-section field affect not only seeding operations but also […] Read more
Taking seed treatments on the road
LANGHAM, Sask. — Small-scale on-farm seed treatment plants have been around for decades, but they have not been widely used until recently, says Jeff Young of CanSeed Equipment in Saskatoon. “The younger generation of farmers is starting to see the value of seed treatment,” he said. “These young growers won’t put a seed in the […] Read more
Wireless bin monitoring system eliminates storage woes
LANGHAM, Sask. — It’s a beautiful winter payday. The B-train and auger are set up and ready. The auger is powering into the bin. Then the smell hits. Next the grain flow chugs to a stop. “Now, this does not need to happen in today’s world,” Wayne Clews, founder of Clews Management, says passionately. “All […] Read more
