Wet conditions at harvest inevitably result in a mess, as heavy combines and grain carts leave their mark in the soft soil. With above normal rainfall extending into harvest in parts of Western Canada, we're seeing some deep ruts and serious compaction from harvest equipment. "That wheel traffic compaction can go as deep as three... Read More
Category: Western Canada
Slumping corn prices have enabled an environment for mega agribusiness mergers and acquisitions. In the last twelve months, there's been a steady stream of headlines about the latest and greatest combination of billion dollar companies that will purportedly deliver better products, savings to the farmer, more innovation, synergies, alliances, etc. In this economic environment for... Read More
Back home from the US Farm Progress Show in Iowa, Bern Tobin and Kelvin Heppner take over the Kickin' Tires podcast for this episode to reflect on what they saw and heard at the massive farm equipment and technology trade show. With crowds exceeding 100,000 over three days, many companies use Farm Progress to launch... Read More
Are you tired of cleaning grain dryer screens? If so, Sukup’s new mixed-flow grain dryer is worth a look. “We’ve had a lot of customers say they are just tired of cleaning screens… They want a screenless dryer and the mixed flow gives us that capability,” says Sukup dryer sales director Kerry Hartwig. Sukup showed... Read More
Canadian fertilizer giants Agrium and Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan say they've reached a deal to merge their businesses to form the largest fertilizer company in the world. The new company, which would be named before the transaction is finalized, would be worth around US$36 billion, with close to 20,000 employees and operations in 18 countries,... Read More
Pundits have said the leaders of the next agricultural revolution – the digital revolution — will be big data-powered researchers, with a universe of information in hand to help make farming more efficient than ever. But no one said those researchers would be found in the labs, fields, and classrooms of some of Canada’s main... Read More
Numbers and data points mean very little if they can't be translated into information that helps cropping decisions. Software programs and services are necessary to take many sources of data and not just bring them all to one place, but also make sure the many layers of maps, data points, and images mesh. A new... Read More
Grains pushed through the first full week of September with a mix of bearish and bullish headlines, but mostly of the latter as a weaker U.S. Dollar, wet weather, and decent export numbers being supportive. Corn was the shining star for the week, up 3.5% in Chicago, mainly supported by ethanol being up more than... Read More
With a smartphone in their pocket, every farmer, farm employee, or agronomist is now also a photographer. The ability to share pictures from the field has dramatically improved how farmers and agronomists communicate and diagnose issues. However, the information gleaned from a cellphone photo can only be as good as the original picture. A poor... Read More
Harvest is moving along between rains, as we start to get an idea of the impact disease has had on the big crop in the West. Meanwhile, talks between Bayer and Monsanto continue...spraying drones, the U.S. election, Canadian farm debt numbers…and Lyndsey's back! All that and more...here’s This Week on Real Ag for the week... Read More