The canola crop is ripening at an incredible pace — should you wait and straight cut or try and swath ASAP? How fast is too fast to combine canola, in either scenario? These are questions that come up every year, but the trade-off between swathing and straight-cutting are especially important this year as the canola... Read More
Category: Machinery
If you've never been to a product launch from an equipment manufacturer, believe us when we say it's typically a very big deal. More often than not there is fanfare, a light show, possibly smoke and sometimes even a parade. But when the confetti settles and the food brought out on combine headers (yes, really)... Read More
Air seeders can be tough on seed — the amount of air needed to push seed and fertilizer all the way to the openers can be tough to get just right, and, to avoid plugs or bridging, can sometimes run a little high, causing seed to bounce out of the furrow. Dutch Industries has developed... Read More
Those farmers involved in forage seed production are likely quite familiar with a wick weeder — a unit that uses chemical-soaked rope to deliver herbicide to weeds towering above the crop. But, increasingly, wick weeders are being used in more conventional operations as well in pulse crops, where herbicide options are sometimes limited, and even... Read More
Harvesting technology continues to evolve as manufacturers attempt to improve the harvesting process. Last week, Gleaner introduced the first Series 8, Transverse rotary combine. We encourage you to listen to the interview with Kevin Bien, Gleaner to get a better understanding of the machine and its benefits. Below are some pictures from the launch... Read More
After harvest is a great time to get out and scout soil conditions and start planning soil management passes for the fall and spring. One of the tillage questions that often comes up at field days is depth settings on implements, like a soil ripper. The answer to how deep you need to go is... Read More
Saving time on seeder and planter fills can translate to covering a good chunk of more acres in a day, plus there's the added bonus of fewer man hours needed per day, if you can get your planting set up just right. Meridian Industries' 1050 Seed Tender is one piece of equipment that was designed... Read More
Choosing nozzles, comparing spray patterns and carefully setting water volume are all ways to improve the efficacy of products applied in-crop. Add to this GPS-equipped sprayers and variable rate application programs, and spraying can be one precise business. Until you reach the end of the field or spray zone and nozzles continue to spray even... Read More
Perhaps the only thing more irritating than a plugged run at seeding is a blocked nozzle at spraying. While proper sprayer maintenance can help decrease the incidence of plugged or broken nozzles, nozzle monitoring systems are a great way to instantly know whether you're over or under applying product. At this year's Farm Progress Show,... Read More
In a perfect world, all canola fields would have uniform maturity and one large, heavily podded main stem, making swath timing decisions easy peasy. The reality, of course, is that emergence problems, hail events and heat stress can all cause maturity variability, excessive branching or yield-heavy secondary stems that need to be included in the... Read More