Green hay Producers have more choices for hay equipment from North American Deere dealers. John Deere is including the Frontier line of hay tools to complement its own machines. This includes wheel and rotary rakes, bale spears and the Frontier bale processor. New cart-based wheel rakes have between eight and 19 wheels, with the largest […] Read more
Production
New Products
Red flour beetle a priority for gene mapping
Researchers from 14 countries collaborated on the genetic sequencing of a pest insect that plagues grain producers across the planet. The red flour beetle is one of three main pests that invade stored grain, causing damage and creating opportunities for heating to occur. It, along with the rusty grain beetle, the lesser grain borer and […] Read more
New grasshopper handbook separates good from evil
You know you’re a pest species of grasshopper if you don’t fly around the field until June and you draw attention to yourself with loud behaviour. If you have these attributes, then you won’t like entomologist Dan Johnson’s new book because it will help farmers and agrologists identify and make decisions about killing you and […] Read more
New Products
Bigger disc cutting New Holland has released two new discbine heads for that company’s windrower line. At 18 feet, the 770HD is the widest disc-cutter in the industry. The 750HD is a specialty grass seed harvesting cutter. These two headers sport redesigned feed augers that reach across the width of the cutter head. The augers […] Read more
Improved Concord takes flight
For all those farmers who wished they’d bought one of the last Concord drills before they were discontinued, here’s some good news. The Concord is back. Despite the long list of advances in precision seeding technology born here on the Canadian Prairies in the past two decades, there are still many farmers loyal to the […] Read more
Old Concord holds 100 percent value for owner
Glen Gusta paid $42,000 for his new 40 foot Concord drill in 1998. He sold it this summer for $42,000. Those prices refer to the drill only, not the cart. “That machine has made me more money than any other piece of equipment on this farm,” said the retired grain farmer from Stead, Man. “In […] Read more
Up, up and away
A water cannon isn’t something farmers need every year. But when they need it, they really need it badly. The need for a device such as a water cannon may increase in future years because scientists predict that climate change will bring us more rain of greater severity. The water cannon idea has been around […] Read more
Getting the dirt on the price of success
The reduced tillage that comes with direct seeding has cut production costs and returned to society more than half a billion dollars annually in Saskatchewan and $200 million in Alberta. Peter Gamache of Alberta Reduced Tillage Linkages (ARTL) analyzed the Alberta case based on Statistics Canada 2006 census data and adjusted it to reflect 2008 […] Read more
The combine stops when the AC quits
It’s been decades since cabs on tractors, sprayers, swathers and combines were built with opening windows. They’re all sealed up tight and totally dependent on air conditioning. When the air conditioning stops working, so does the implement. Combines and swathers are especially vulnerable, with their wide expanses of glass and long hours in the August […] Read more
New combine sets harvesting world record
Not available in North America, pity. New Holland’s new 591 horsepower CR9090 Elevation set a world record by harvesting 16,579 bushels of wheat in eight hours, with peaks of 2,866 bu. per hour. The demonstration took place July 31 near Leipzig in central Germany, and was documented and recognized by Guinness as an official world […] Read more
