For those who closely follow the equipment industry, there was something unique about John Deere's deal with sprayer-maker Hagie Manufacturing. The two companies announced a joint venture this past spring that saw Deere acquire a majority stake in the Iowa-based company known for its innovative front boom, high clearance sprayers. Unlike most of its other... Read More
Category: Western Canada
The latest generation of New Holland’s flagship BigBaler promises to raise the bar for big square density and uniformity. New Holland unveiled the BigBaler 340 Plus last month at the Farm Progress Show in Boone, Iowa. In this video, New Holland hay and forage marketing manager Seth Doman explains that the key feature making this... Read More
Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada's research centre at Swift Current is getting a major upgrade. Federal Agriculture Minister Lawrence MacAulay was in southwest Saskatchewan Wednesday to announce $35.3 million for renovations and new laboratories at the facility, which will be used to support AAFC's wheat breeding program, as well as other forage and cereal research. "Improvements... Read More
Barley grower organizations from the three prairie provinces and the Western Grains Research Foundation are investing $2.4 million over the next five years in the barley variety development program at the University of Saskatchewan's Crop Development Centre. The funding from Alberta Barley, the Saskatchewan Barley Development Commission, the Manitoba Wheat and Barley Growers Association and... Read More
A Govan, Saskatchewan-based company has announced plans to open a chain of independent crop input retail sites in Saskatchewan and Alberta, with operations beginning this fall. “SynergyAG is the natural progression of our family’s 60 years in seed and crop nutrition retail,” said Brad Hanmer, president and CEO of SynergyAG, in a news release issued... Read More
Chinese drone manufacturer DJI is introducing a spraying model to North America, as it foresees a day when farmers use swarms of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to control weeds, diseases and other pests. The Agras MG-1 is an octocopter capable of carrying 2.5 gallons and covering 7 to 10 acres per hour, explains DJI's Jan... Read More
Would a carbon fibre spray boom be strong enough to withstand the rigour of continuous field spraying? That’s a question John Deere intends to answer as it continues to look for ways to substitute the composite material for the steel and aluminum traditionally used in farm equipment, such as boom sprayers. At its annual product... Read More
Although we live in a different country, Canadians are closely following the real-life theatre that is the U.S. presidential election. "You guys have as much at stake as we do," said Stu Ellis, only half-joking, when asked if he'd be willing to do an interview on the election for a Canadian farm audience at the... Read More
Does agriculture have its own social licence, its own special bond with the public? I wondered that last week, thinking about the energy sector. My thoughts were prompted by the terrified look on Montreal Mayor Denis Coderre’s face, when he unwittingly found himself between a protestor (described by the media as “burly”) and participants at... Read More
It was more than 20 years ago that Ben Dillon of Carroll County, Indiana returned from working off the farm and found himself assigned to driving the grain cart tractor. "I was sitting there watching the combine and I said 'this is the dumbest thing I've ever seen. I have to fix this,'" he says.... Read More