A few days ago I was stopped on the side of the road chatting with a member of the harvesting crew from a neighbouring farm. The field just beside where we were parked, along with others nearby, were yielding exceptionally well, he told me. The canola was running somewhere north of 60 bushels per acre. […] Read more
By the numbers
Testing Ford’s Trailer Backup Assist
Does adding an auto-back up feature on to the package add value to this farm truck?
Just about every producer is used to backing up towed machinery and trailers. It’s an everyday occurrence on the farm. But not everyone with a driver’s licence is capable of easily navigating a truck and trailer through the rear-view mirror. To help those directionally challenged drivers and anybody who would just like reversing a trailer […] Read more
PHOTOS: Big Roy debuts — again!
Grainews has been following the restoration of this tractor, and it’s finally finished
Back in January, Grainews was invited into Versatile’s Winnipeg tractor assembly plant to follow the restoration of the classic Big Roy, eight-wheel drive tractor, which has been a brand icon since the 1970s. The Grainews video team documented the work being done to the tractor by company employees throughout the restoration process. The goal of […] Read more
Keeping your head above water
Nearly every day some new press release pops up in my email inbox, usually several. In the agricultural machinery world most of those announcements use a pretty matter-of-fact style. They generally rely on the newsworthiness of the machine to provide any impact. I guess all the brands think we machinery editors a pretty pragmatic bunch. […] Read more
At the show
Last week involved yet another road trip as I headed south to take in the U.S. Farm Progress show in Boone, Iowa. This year all four of the major brands coordinated their primary new product launches around that event. For its official launch, John Deere invited members of the farm media to its nearby Des […] Read more
Attachment sorts intercropped plants for harvesting
New product from Flexxifinger allows for easier harvesting in intercropped fields
Proponents of intercropping (growing two or more crops in the same field simultaneously) claim that system allows for a significant reduction in the typical input costs associated with controlling pest and disease problems in a monoculture environment, and it can significantly boost field yields at the same time. But there are obvious hurdles to overcome […] Read more
Three steps to even residue distribution
How to ensure you get the best performance from a combine straw chopper
It’s easy to forget about that straw chopper hanging off the back of a combine. So much discussion and effort these days seems to focus on getting material fed in at the front, that what happens to it when the combine coughs it out the rear often becomes little more than an afterthought. But the […] Read more
The Russians are coming!
MTZ Equipment Ltd. reintroduces the Kirovets four-wheel drive tractor
A few decades ago the former Canadian distributor of Belarus tractors included high-horsepower, four-wheel drive tractors in its product line, and they wore the Belarus brand name. But these machines weren’t built in the same factory in Minsk, Belarus that produced the front-wheel assist models that distributor sold here at the time, because the Minsk […] Read more
Being precise
I suspect the idea of a plowing match started with a group of farmers sitting around claiming each could steer a team of horses pulling a plow in a straighter line than the other. Although, I may be wrong. When plows vanished from the prairie landscape here, so it seems did plowing matches. And any […] Read more
New John Deere guidance receiver
John Deere has again updated its satellite guidance product line with the introduction of the StarFire 6000 receiver and new SF3 signal correction. In a June press announcement, the company claims these new product offerings will give customers “greater precision capabilities, accuracy and uptime.” “The StarFire 6000 Receiver offers a full range of differential correction […] Read more