The first people to try electricity to kill unwanted vegetation were the United States-based railroads in the 1890s. Scientists working for the railroads discovered that their new technology, high-voltage electricity, killed weeds dead. Today, 130 years later, scientists are still working to perfect and commercialize electric weed-killing technology. Hybrid electric desiccation is one of the […] Read more
Machinery — page 52
Deere workers go on strike after UAW fails to reach deal
(Reuters) – Thousands of Deere & Co workers began a strike on Thursday, the United Auto Workers (UAW) said, days after overwhelmingly rejecting a six-year labor contract that was agreed on with the tractor maker. Earlier this month, the world’s largest farm equipment maker and the UAW union reached an agreement after weeks of negotiation […] Read more
Who is left to buy the used iron?
Large farms face a problem as small-to-medium sized farms disappear, according to a new analysis paper from Agri-Food Economic Systems. Large operators sell their used equipment to help finance future technology improvements but they need enough medium-sized operations to buy it. “Wide swaths of farms are being left behind… in the wake of rapid growth […] Read more
Upgrade your tire change equipment, Jack
Many factors can lead to injury or death when changing big tires on high clearance sprayers, combines or tractors. These tragedies often occur when the jacks or blocking give way. There are distinct trends at play. As the number of farmer-owned sprayers increases, their use in applying nutrients and crop protection products also increases, and […] Read more
Do it yourself green on brown spotting
Open source weed detection for sprayers or precision tillage is based on camera sensors identifying the targets
The design for a green on brown weed locator is now available to anyone who wants to build their own site-specific weed management tool. The OpenWeedLocator (OWL) is an open-source, low-cost image-based approach for fallow weed detection. Guy Coleman from the University of Sydney, Australia, is working on the project. He said the OWL is […] Read more
Clamp down on rolling stones
In regions with rocky soil, headland rock piles are drawing more attention. There’s valuable cropland lying under those stones. In much of the Parkland region, some of the best soil is infested with stones. Stone piles should be moved efficiently and equipment on a typical prairie farm lacks the capability to deal with a major […] Read more
Affordable autosteer adds direction to older gear
Expanding farmers need to add seeding tractors, high clearance sprayers, swathers and combines. And, as a matter of efficiency, all these new machines need some sort of reliable autosteer system. For the seeding tractor, accuracy down to 1.6 inches pass-to pass might be required. But for the sprayer, swather and combine, accuracy down in the […] Read more
Precision prescription technology for tillage
Farmers are accustomed to using prescription maps for fertilizer and crop protection products. Now, they can put those layers to use by making prescription maps for their tillage operations. Case has introduced prescription tillage technology as an option to its existing AFS Soil Command. The tillage prescription map is based on the various maps producers […] Read more
Raven ready to roll on with OmniDrive
Farmers can not-drive the driver-less tractor at farm shows but they can see the advantages of doing it
Raven demoed their OmniDrive autonomous technology, installed on a Case Magnum, at this month’s Farm Progress Show in Decatur, Illinois. It gave farmers a chance to experience hands-off driving first-hand. Titan demonstrated the OmniDrive at the Big Iron Farm Show in Fargo, N.D. this week. As the company shows off the system to producers they […] Read more
And they shoved that thing into OmniDrive
After decades of speculation, the first truly autonomous grain cart tractor is here and put to a farmers’ test
The first Canadian OmniDrive field demo took place Sept. 8 when a group of about 50 farmers got together at Haggerty Creek Agricultural Services, the Raven dealer near Bothwell, Ont. Haggerty Creek co-owner Chuck Baresich admitted that his initial grain cart encounters while driving the combine were weird. “The first thing I learned was that […] Read more
