Crop Management
WOODSTOCK, Ont. — Strip-till has been lurking on the fringe of Ontario agriculture since the provincial agriculture ministry and universities began promoting the practice through research in the 1980s. In the 1980s and 1990s “there was some grower up-take, but certainly not a large amount. But I think nowadays with some of the newer machines […] Read more
Crop Management
Tillage no longer a dirty word, or not as dirty
Manufacturers today don’t feel they’re soiling their reputations by introducing a new cultivator
FARGO, N.D. — The days are gone when tillage was a bad word and no-till was the prairie mantra. Farmers touring the recent Big Iron show in Fargo were treated to a heaping helping of fresh new cultivators. The surge in new tillage equipment was sparked by generally wet conditions, along with the need to […] Read more
Shelter belts can help increase crop yields
Trees can be a pain to farm around, but they put more money on the bottom line and reduce extreme weather threats
Removing shelter belts to accommodate today’s larger farm equipment is a common practice that could hurt farmers in the long run. Prairie researchers are examining both the environmental and economic roles of shelter belts as many of the plantings near the end of their lifespan or farmers rip them out. Research has already shown that […] Read more
Spring steel wheel sheds mud better than rubber
FARGO, N.D. — Farmers attend farm shows to see what’s truly new, innovative and of benefit to them, such as the Australian-built spring steel coil closing wheels and gauge wheels that shed mud. Australian farmers set their autosteer to go in a straight line and then take a nap, or so the story goes. Straight […] Read more
Canadian pulse sales a day-to-day business
Winnipeg – The Canadian pulse crop trade hasn’t stopped, even though its biggest customer, India, isn’t taking large amounts anymore. Instead buyers are finding themselves having to take business one day at a time and become a bit more creative. “I think everyone is in the same boat, it’s not that the market has stopped. […] Read more
Adverse weather slows Saskatchewan harvest: report
Cool and wet weather limited harvest progress in Saskatchewan during the week ended Oct. 1, with the overall harvest rate only increasing five percentage points, to 73 percent complete, according to the latest provincial report. The harvest was running behind the five-year average of 78 percent complete, and compares with 2017 when 89 percent of […] Read more
Big sprayers keep growing
FARGO, N.D. — In the high-stakes contest to have the biggest self-propelled high clearance sprayer, Hardi’s Rubicon 9000 with a 2,200 gallon tank and 160-foot front mount aluminum boom is the new leader. In keeping with the latest sprayer technology, Rubicon booms are mounted out front of the cab and all liquids are carried in […] Read more
Most farms likely to see heavy use of grain dryers
After the 2016 harvest nightmare on the Prairies, grain bin and dryer manufacturers had a good run installing systems capable of quickly drying large amounts of crop. Many farms are now well-positioned to dry tough grain, which is fortunate because there is a pile of it coming off this fall. But even with a good […] Read more
New Deere forage harvester touches 1,000 horsepower
John Deere has unveiled a new beast to the self-propelled forage harvester market in the form of the 9000 Series with the largest model touching 1,000 horsepower. Following intensive German farm association DLG’s testing in high yielding maize fields in northern Italy and in Germany, John Deere has unwrapped the new 9000 Series of harvesters. […] Read more
Grain vessel lineup a possible sign of shipping to come?
The lineup of grain vessels waiting for loading at Vancouver increased to 21 for Week 8 of the grain shipping season. Reports by Quorum Corp., which monitors prairie grain handling, stated vessels at Vancouver were up 31 per cent from the previous week (17). The increase in ships raised sentiments that grain orders and exports […] Read more
