From an 18-propeller drone sprayer to 16,000 litre spray tanks, Agritechnica's spray application exhibits covered all the bases, but with an emphasis on European offerings. For North American attendees, the differences were striking, and in some cases, rather surprising. "The nozzle manufacturers are actually trying to play catch up. There's the pulse width modulation revolution... Read More

It may not be described as "bigger, faster, stronger," but John Deere's concept sprayer is catching eyes for another reason — it's autonomous. Exhibited in the Future Technology Zone at Agritechnica in Hanover, Germany, the light-weight sprayer works on tracks to minimize ground pressure, while offering four-wheel stearing, and a ground clearance of 1.9m. Currently... Read More

RealAgriculture’s coverage of Agritechnica 2019 is made possible by Brevant seeds. The latest technology, locally tested. Brevant seeds. Seed. Yield. Easy. During planting, spraying and harvest season, a farmer will spend incredible amounts of hours in the machinery cab. The days of the basic cab are over as cabs have become suites, and operator creature... Read More

Have you got your soil tests done for the year? If not, that's just fine, as late fall is actually a great time to test soil nutrient levels, says Ross McKenzie, now-retired soil scientist (from Alberta Agriculture). Without a soil test to guide the decision, farmers are choosing fertilizer rates "by guess and by golly,"... Read More

The pulse harvest in Alberta and Saskatchewan is in its late stages now, and although there are some anecdotal observations of better-than-expected quality, it's not all ideal. "There is some sprouting, and there is a lot of earth tag," says Chuck Penner, of Leftfield Commodity Research, adding the visual damage is worst for green lentil... Read More

After identifying a need for aerial spraying services on large farms, an Ontario-based start-up has developed a fully-automated unmanned aerial vehicle for the Canadian market. "Typically most drones you see out there for aerial spraying are fairly small capacity... and for North American farms...it's just not going to cut it," says Meng Wei, CEO and... Read More