Prince Philip “gone fishing”

Wouldn’t you know it. The guys stumbles into this cushy job and immediately after 67 years decides to coast. The UK and a good part of the world was rocked this morning by news that Prince Philip, at age 96, is talking retirement. At least he had the courtesy to give everyone five month’s notice. […] Read more

Just the facts, ma’am

I was going through my evening workout routine today, which means I was sitting on the sofa holding the TV remote and flicking through the show listings, when I noticed something unusual. An upcoming program description described it as “Reality, science fiction”. How could it possibly be both of those things? Those incompatible descriptions made […] Read more


Driving away skills

There are days when I think the best form of entertainment in town—since the movie theatre closed—is to get a window table at one of the local coffee shops on main street and watch some locals try parallel parking out front. I shouldn’t be too critical of anyone, though. Sometimes sliding a full-sized, four-door three-quarter […] Read more



A market rebound?

There must be a lot of optimism among executives in machinery company head offices these days. And the AEM (Association of Equipment Manufacturers) sales report for the month of March reflects the reason for it. Finally, following years of month-after-month sales declines in ag tractors and combines in North America, the trend line may be […] Read more

It ain’t broke, let’s fix it!

Sometimes I think bureaucrats, politicians, the makers of electronic devices (cell phones/software programs) and a hundred other things just mess with stuff because they have nothing better to do. I was just reading recently where the federal government was asking for input into changing the cash deferral plan producers use when they sell a commodity […] Read more


Come with us to Agritechnica

When I attended my first Agritechnica in 2009, I happened to be at the New Holland display’s official product introduction at exactly the right time. In typical Agritechnica fashion, the launch was an extraordinary display. Events at this show make Canadian and U.S. events seem pretty dull by comparison. On that day, NH had a […] Read more

Grainews needs you

Last year we kicked off the first-ever Grainews Machinery Challenge, which we ran in conjunction with the Ag in Motion farm show near Saskatoon. We focused our attention on UTVs and had a pretty broad selection of them to turn over to our judging team. That team, made up of editors from Grainews and our […] Read more


I’m sorry, Scott. I’m afraid I can’t do that

Last week I was riding high—figuratively and literally. I had a 2017 F-350 four-wheel drive, Powerstroke pickup at my disposal for a full seven days. Equipped with a Lariat trim package, this truck had no shortage of high-end features and a host of computer-controlled smart technology. Of course, Ford didn’t just give me this truck […] Read more

24 hours of the Condor

As I look out my office window at one of the worst March storms I’ve ever seen, it’s hard to believe that equipment will likely be running through prairie fields in only two months. All anyone can do on days like this is daydream about those warm spring and summer afternoons. So when a press […] Read more