Last week I caught a flight to Toronto to take in Canada’s Outdoor Farm Show (outdoorfarmshow.com). Although the show has been an annual event in southern Ontario for 19 years, this was my time through the gates to have a look at it. Getting from Pearson airport out to Woodstock where the show is held […] Read more
Canada’s Outdoor Farm Show
A happy and eager workforce
This week I found myself parked in one of the soft armchairs at a Starbucks coffee shop perusing a Globe and Mail newspaper while sipping a grande Pike Blend. Leading off the Report on Business section in the paper was this headline, “Auto workers threaten triple strike”. A strike by CAW workers against all of […] Read more
Keep calm and carry on
Some years, it seems, you spend more time standing at the parts counter than you do sitting in the tractor seat. It’s been one of those years around here. Spring seeding started off with an incredible 10 breakdowns in five days. Granted, a couple of those problems were caused by things I should have noticed […] Read more
Case IH celebrates a Magnum milestone
25 years ago a very young Case IH Corporation introduced the Magnum, the first new tractor line to be introduced after that organization was created by joining Case and International Harvester. The four models that first comprised the Magnum Series were, like the new Case IH organization, itself, a blending of the two brands. The […] Read more
Driving the new belted MT700D Challenger tractor
If you think it’s been hot here on the prairie, you should have been in the U.S. midwest last week. Temperatures there ranged into the mid to high 30s, celcius. Along with those temperatures, there was high humidity. So much, in fact, that in the morning the rear window of my rental car was completely […] Read more
Deere’s technology summit in Des Moines
At the end of June, John Deere held a “technology summit” in downtown Des Moines, Iowa. Members of the farm media were invited, so I along with the usual gang of writers working for publications in Canada and the U.S. showed up. But this time the majority of attendees were financial securities analysts. To say […] Read more
Planning a summer getaway?
Are you thinking about taking a car trip this summer? If you are and you can convince your wife to spend time looking at farm machinery, I have a couple of destination suggestions. First, this is John Deere’s 175th corporate birthday. And the company has updated its tourist-oriented John Deere Pavillion in Moline, Illinois. The […] Read more
Drop screen aids in combine adjustment
As crop prices increase, the financial value of field losses during harvesting can become pretty significant. So time spent fine tuning combine adjustments can pay dividends. But properly sampling losses during harvesting can be difficult, especially for anyone working alone. However, Roland Requier of Westlock, Alberta, has created a handy device designed to deal with […] Read more
Crop Catcher reduces combine header losses
A shield designed to fit on a combine feeder house minimizes header losses, especially in canola fields
A couple of years ago, Karl Koch, a grain grower at Marsden, Sask., noticed he had a problem with his combine. Kernels were being thrown over top of the feeder house by the header auger as he harvested canola. “Dad and I thought we were losing a lot canola over the front end,” he says. […] Read moreWCFPS offers a look at what’s new
As machinery editor here at Grainews, attending farm shows is an essential part of my job. Although for me — as for most machinery enthusiasts — having a job that requires you to walk through equipment displays hardly qualifies as work. And if keeping up to speed on what the machinery market has to offer […] Read more
Cyber-Savvy Farmer
