A new oat may shovel its way into farmers’ bins and into feed grain markets in two years time. CDC Super Oats received variety registration last week in Winnipeg. Breeders hope the new variety’s higher-fat groat and more easily digested hull will be a hit with producers for use in the feed and human use […] Read more
Production — page 83
New oat variety shows good feeding potential
Dolly makes feeder house removal easy
CENTRAL BUTTE, Sask. – Like most farmers, Dallas Bryan finds handling his feeder house a bit of a chore when he’s got his combine in the shop for repairs. “It’s such a hassle to take the feeder house off,” the Central Butte farmer says. “Normally we’d block it up with an oil barrel and a […] Read more
Cultivator frame telescopes into itself
FARGO, N.D. – It’s a fact of life that presents a significant challenge to producers: farms are bigger and more spread out, implements are wider and law enforcement agencies are stricter about how that equipment should be safely moved on public roads. Wil-Rich Manufacturing in Wahpeton, North Dakota, thinks it may have an answer. The […] Read more
Clubroot disease increases in Alberta
Clubroot is a growing problem in Alberta. The disease has been reported on occasion from home gardens in central Alberta over the past 30 years, but was confirmed in canola in the St. Albert area near Edmonton, in 2003. Since then it has been the focus of a number of surveys of canola and cruciferous […] Read more
Grease tested as fuel
New work from the United States Department of Agriculture could someday help cars run like greased lightning, powered by biodiesel made from restaurant grease. Mike Haas, a chemist at the department’s Agricultural Research Service in Pennsylvania, is working with the Philadelphia Fry-o-Diesel company to demonstrate that trap grease, which restaurants and food companies collect from […] Read more
New Products
Vario header Lexion Vario headers designed for canola, wheat, barley, rye and other small grain crops are now available. Bob Armstrong, North American product marketing manager for Claas, said the hydraulically adjustable table in the Vario header improves feeding and crop flow of small grains into the combine feeder house in a variety of conditions. […] Read more
Homemade forklift takes a load off
MINTON, Sask. – For Ken Tatarliov, the quest for an affordable front-end loader didn’t end at a farm auction sale with a traditional bucket or grapple. Tatarliov was looking through a newspaper and noticed a forklift mast was available. He checked it out and because forklift masts can lift a lot of weight, he thought […] Read more
Harvest Tool unplugs cylinders
BIRSAY, Sask. – When John Deere combines with conventional cylinders plug, the standard routine is to take a heavy steel bar that comes with the combine and physically turn the cylinder backward to loosen the jam. That worked fine for Harvey Lesyk until he became sick. Following surgery, Lesyk didn’t have the strength to handle […] Read more
Live bottoms increase trailer versatility
FARGO, N.D. – Live bottom semitrailers were originally built for asphalt and gravel, but have since found their way into potato and sugar beet operations. Even on these farms, the number of moving-floor trailers remained small because it was assumed these specialty units could perform a limited number of functions. Most trailer owners stuck by […] Read more
Old air seeder cart turned into portable water tank
LAKE ALMA, Sask. – A variety of water sources on his ranch in southern Saskatchewan prompted Wayne Hagen to find a unique way to build a mobile water system. The ranch’s water comes from wells, springs and dugouts, but rather than force the cows and calves to walk to those water sources, Hagen prefers to […] Read more
