BRANDON — Bob Mazer is proud of his souped-up Ford 8N with the infamous 100 horsepower flathead V8 transplant. Farmers attending Manitoba Ag Days in Brandon had a lot of happy grins inspecting the old tractor. The farm equipment dealer bought the tractor three years ago. It displays well in the authentic grey and red […] Read more
Ron Lyseng
Stories by Ron Lyseng
Hot heads generate big power
Editor’s note: In addition to being an agricultural reporter, Ron Lyseng has built and raced cars for more than 40 years. BRANDON — Although Ford flathead V8s lost whatever performance advantage they may have had over other engines in the 1930s, folks still love to modify and race them. At an amazing speed of 302.204 […] Read more
Cone-head helps cure drill irregularities
The volume of product on some air seeding systems can vary up to 30 percent in one run from the volume in neighbouring runs, resulting in a host of agronomic problems. Irregular fertilizer rates cause crop staging problems that follow right through to harvest and beyond. Unwanted variability in seeding rates can result in expanded […] Read more
Vacuum caters to demand for clean food without chemicals
People who eat fresh food are picky. We abhor bugs, worms, dead leaves and other “stuff” on the fruit and vegetables we consume, but we’re equally opposed to chemical hygiene. It’s a dilemma for producers who grow fresh produce, and the demand for pristine fruit and vegetables is expanding. Brothers Bob and Joe Sutton decided […] Read more
Chickens safe in mobile home
BRANDON — Consumers are willing to pay a price premium for chickens grazed on grass. However, keeping those birds well watered, well fed and safe from predators is an ongoing challenge. It’s a challenge that Daniel Badiou has taken up with enthusiasm. Badiou, who helps run the family’s dairy farm near Sommerset, Man., graduated with […] Read more
Multi-tasking machine fast and efficient
There’s nothing new about dribbling on liquid fertilizer and incorporating it with a tine harrow. However, doing it big and doing it fast gives the method a new twist. Growers are placing less emphasis on one-pass farming. The utopian ideal of doing all seed placement, fertilizer placement and trash management in a single swipe compromises […] Read more
Return of the Dirty Thirties — with a vengeance
We’re all pretty confident we’ll never experience another dust bowl. So much so that it never even enters our conscious minds. Zero till, irrigation and drought-tolerant crops remove all fear of a repeat. But maybe we’re all wrong. Two researchers at the University of Chicago think so. They argue that it’s inevitable we will experience […] Read more
Going Wilde with in-the-bin aeration drying
Producer designs gauge to provide real time readout of flow rate while drying grain with an aeration fan
BRANDON — If you don’t know the airflow rate in a bin, you have no idea whether in-bin aeration drying is working. The result could be a bin full of spoiled grain. If you have real-time airflow readouts as you’re augering in, you can fill to the optimal level to get good drying with any […] Read more
Drills: Big and slow versus small and fast
The conventional idea of big is better is challenged by European engineers who focus on smaller equipment
BRANDON — There’s a growing debate between proponents of big drills pulled at a relatively low speeds and proponents of small drills pulled at high speeds. Conventional thinkers advocate the type of wide low-speed drills that have evolved in prairie conditions over the past three decades. On the other side of the debate, a small […] Read more
Euro-Scot brings its small, fast equipment to the Prairies
BRANDON — Euro-Scot is importing a full line of European farm equipment to its Brandon location, specializing in tillage and seeding implements. The flagship is Pottinger’s Terrasem high-speed double disc drill. Euro-Scot owner Willie Gilbert describes the drill. “At the front we have our tillage tools, two sets of opposing angle discs. Nothing unusual about […] Read more
