Blog

I once counted up all the tires in use on equipment around the farm. Even though I knew each machine and how many tires were on it, when I consciously tallied the total number I had to say, “Wow. That’s a lot”. The same was true for the number of engines, large and small, that […] Read more

It seems the people at General Motors are a happy bunch these days. I suppose they should be. 2015 was good to them. The company is on its way to setting a record in net sales for this fiscal year. A big jump in the number of Silverados driving off dealer lots helped make that […] Read more

Many years ago I stopped listening to talk radio, those channels that invite people to call in by the dozens and express their opinions on some topic or another. I didn’t stop listening because I don’t want to hear other opinions on important things. It’s just that I’d rather hear informed opinions, and there are […] Read more

At the Ag in Motion farm show near Saskatoon this past summer I had a chance to take a look at some UAVs (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles), or drones as they’re also referred to. Company cameraman Bruce Sergeant and I got to get our hands on a quadcopter and saw what kinds of aerial photography opportunities […] Read more

Whenever I manage to get into the corporate head office in Winnipeg and have a spare few minutes, one of the things I like to do is head downstairs and look through the archived copies of all the publications the company owns. Leafing through the pages of farm magazines that are decades old is like […] Read more

Over the years, prairie farmers have become used to seeing regional companies, primarily seeding equipment and short-line manufacturers, unveil new products at shows in Western Canada. But for the most part, the major brands have used major U.S. events almost exclusively to pull the wraps off their new machinery introductions. That is, until recently. New […] Read more

Today I was expecting to write the usual wrap up report on this year’s Agritechnica; but as I sit in the press office at the Hanover Fair Grounds, I can’t help but think of the stark contrast that currently exits in two neighbouring countries because of last night’s events in Paris. Here in Germany, at […] Read more

The world’s largest agricultural machinery expo just clicked past the half-way point here in Hanover Germany, and so far the attendance counter is already north of 175,000 visitors. That’s easily more than all the significant regional farm shows in Canada tally up in an entire season. And the higher attendance days typically happen toward the […] Read more

Back in 1969 a Hollywood movie debuted, titled “If it’s Tuesday, this must be Belgium”. I can remember seeing it in the theatre as a kid. Why do I mention that? Well, the movie was about a bunch of tourists taking a hectic bus trip across Europe. All of them were from different countries and […] Read more