Equip Blog

As has become usual in the last couple of years, some late-season snow fell across much of the prairies, stopping any seeding work that may have already started. In several locations the moisture it brings with it has been far more welcome than any frustration at the unseasonable conditions. Any machines that had been working […] Read more

There’s no doubt the commodity market news as of late has been a little gloomy. Much of the unease has come from the actions of the Chinese, who seem determined to punish Canada for locking one of their white-collar crooks. Among other things they’ve decided to take a swipe at Canadian farmers. They randomly locked […] Read more

When I saw the first news images of Canadian astronaut David Saint-Jacques making a repair to the outside of the International Space Station, one thing stood out to me momentarily. All his tools were tethered to prevent them from drifting off into the black abyss of space. I did briefly flirt with the idea of […] Read more

When field testing prototypes, Canadian ag equipment, manufacturers—like all others—need to log as many hours on a machine as is possible in the shortest amount of time. If they stick to testing in Canada, snowfall pretty much sidelines the equipment for at least half of the year. But if they head far south of the […] Read more

I don’t think there is anyone in this country that will be sad to see the end of winter, especially one like we just experienced. So with the snow receding, giving us the first look at grass and fields again, you might think I’d be turning my attention in this entry to seeding or something […] Read more

When the press release from Versatile (Buhler Industries) first popped up in my email inbox with the name Kubota in the heading, I thought, “Here it comes!”. There’s a good reason I was bracing for a really big announcement between those two brands. The rumours around a deal between them have swirled through the ag […] Read more

When I attended Case IH’s introduction of the new AFS Connect Magnum tractors near Phoenix, Arizona, in January, just a couple of miles away in another field on the University of Arizona’s grounds a different and much more private event was taking place. Regina-based DOT Technologies had one of their autonomous implement carriers there conducting […] Read more

In January, John Deere did something quite unusual. It displayed a combine and some of its leading edge equipment at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Why? Well much of the equipment Deere had on display had a digital component that relied on Artificial Intelligence. That’s pretty cutting edge in any aspect of the […] Read more

During the Manitoba Ag Days show in Brandon last month, I had a chance to sit in on a presentation by John Gehrer, an entrepreneur who created the Never Spill Spout for grain augers. His presentation was meant to give budding inventors the benefit of hearing about his experiences turning an on-farm invention into a […] Read more

In mid January, John Deere did something neither it nor any other farm equipment manufacturer had ever done before (at least as far as anyone can remember). It took one of its combines, an S770, to the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. This is the place all the tech companies go to show off […] Read more