Five of the top 50 agricultural innovations from the past year, as determined by the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers (ASABE), are from the Canadian Prairies. Each year the ASABE selects an expert panel to evaluate new products, processes and services designed to serve agriculture. Eligible entries include products that entered the market […] Read more
Production
Prairie firms make innovation list
Hemp processing still stumbling block
Tucked away in a field behind a poplar bush a 15 minute drive north of Dauphin, Man., a small field of cannabis sativa is already waist high. Not the weekend project of long-haired teenagers looking for illicit riches, this crop is an industrial fibre variety that proponents say could change the way prairie farmers look […] Read more
Baby plants give nitrogen cold shoulder
Plants need nitrogen, but they don’t like it. And if phosphate fertilizer is placed with the nitrogen, plants will be reluctant to access it as well. Garry Meier of Meier Farms at Tisdale, Sask., said the issue of nitrogen placement rises along with the rates being placed in the soil. In a single pass system […] Read more
Dissecting hemp’s potential
Of all the commercial crops grown in Western Canada, few have a more troubled reputation than industrial hemp. Frequently mistaken for its mind-altering relative, marijuana, hemp is heavily regulated, widely stigmatized and its versatility often overlooked. However, University of Saskatchewan researcher Jon Page has a different view of hemp, the non-psychoactive version of the cannabis […] Read more
New Products
GPS system Autofarm’s new Farm Pro GPS system provides sub-inch RTK auto steering and combines that with Raven’s Viper Pro display and machine controls. The portable, multiple roof top antennas, located on a single bar, are designed to give fine control of steering, with yaw and terrain slope compensation, while the Viper system provides variable […] Read more
New hemp hybrids open doors
New, fall-seeded hemp varieties could revolutionize the way the crop is grown in Canada, according to bio-prospector and hemp breeder John Baker. Most traditional hemp varieties grown for grain and fibre cannot survive the winter under the soil, which means that it must be planted in spring. Then the crop is vulnerable to shading from […] Read more
Invention award first step on long road
REGINA – It took Brian Olson years of hard work to become an “overnight success.” Twenty years after his big idea arrived at the big show, Olson is proud to offer proof that the judges were right. He was farming near Tompkins, Sask., in the 1980s and had seen drought and declining market conditions derail […] Read more
Bright ideas on display at Progress Show
Regina’s Western Canadian Farm Progress Show is featuring 17 new inventions in its Royal Bank New Inventions area this year. Here are three: VBine Energy of Moosomin, Sask., has a patented windmill design it hopes will make high performance windmill electrical generation available to smaller businesses, especially those with masts and smoke or ventilation stacks […] Read more
Monster combine eats through crop
REGINA – North America’s largest combine was unveiled to the public at the Western Canadian Farm Progress Show in Regina last week. The New Holland CR9080 is the company’s new rotary line and drew a lot of attention at the three-day event. Producer Jim Thompson of Edmonton said the features that give the machine its […] Read more
Portable 3,000 gallon fertilizer tank affordable
FARGO, N.D. – For all the advantages of liquid fertilizer, there is one significant drawback that sometimes turns into a big expense. “Liquid fertilizer and fittings never get along,” says Ed Ferguson, owner of F/S Manufacturing. Once that little leak starts, it can become a big leak overnight. Ferguson, who has been in the business […] Read more
