Shop in ‘grey market’ at your own risk

Several years ago, my neighbour sold his farm to a Dutch farmer who wanted to move his operation to Canada. That immigrating farmer brought much of his European equipment with him when he arrived. It was a kind of novelty to see an unfamiliar tractor design working in a Canadian field. However, despite the fact[...]

Deere sees farm fit for newest boom loader

North American farmers are apparently getting hooked on the capabilities of a compact wheel loader when it comes to moving loads around the farm. This year John Deere is offering a new model of loader it believes will appeal to producers, and giving that machine an additional feature to make it even more versatile: an[...]


Heading for a fully autonomous fleet by 2030

As John Deere unveiled its 2025 model year product line in late February, it brought the company one year closer to a significant date: 2030. That’s when the brand has promised to be able to offer a complete fleet of autonomous equipment, able to handle a full farming season from seeding to harvest with self-driving[...]

Understanding farmers’ equipment needs

A few years ago, I was invited to attend an R&D facility to test-drive a prototype version of an MFWD tractor with a CVT transmission — then I was asked to give my impressions of what I liked or didn’t like. It was interesting to participate in the early evaluation of a new tractor. Prototype[...]


Upgrades en route for New Holland’s T9 SmartTrax

Despite its corporate cousin Case IH offering rubber tracks on its Quadtrac four-wheel drive tractors for decades, New Holland initially went its own way with tracks on its four-wheel drive T9s. NH had started off with bell-shaped tracks sourced from another manufacturer, API, on its largest models. Then, for its 2012 model year, it introduced[...]

Case IH updates its Magnum tractor line

At the Commodity Classic farm show in Houston in February, Case IH unveiled its new 2025 model year Magnum tractor line. And in keeping with the industry trend of horsepower creep-up, these tractors, too, see a few more ponies stabled under their hoods. “The 380 and the 400 both get five additional horsepower,” says Morgan[...]


TruFlex Razor Draper header a “premium” design

One of the European implement brands that have set up shop in North America in recent decades is Geringhoff, a combine header manufacturer based in Germany — and it’s offering Canadian producers a draper model its western Canadian territory manager, Lucas Haas, calls a premium design. Geringhoff’s TruFlex Razor Draper header offers some unique features[...]

Bourgault updates two product lines

In February, Bourgault announced two new features that allow for significant design changes on some of its drills. First, the 3725QDA coulter drill makes its debut. “The 3725 was kind of an extension of the 5 Series model, the 3335, when Bourgault went with the quick-adjust frame,” said Colin Rush, North American sales and marketing[...]


Ag shows boost focus on farm robotics

Although we’re barely on the eve of widespread adoption of full autonomy in farm machinery, it is slowly becoming mainstream thinking across the equipment industry — and farm machinery shows are starting to tailor events to better showcase it, even in concept and prototype machines. To do exactly that, German agricultural society DLG — the[...]