Machinery & Production Tips

The 2017 Grainews Machinery Challenge looked at four different materials-handling machines.

2017 Machinery Challenge review

This year we put materials-handling equipment to the test

By Scott Garvey September 13, 2017

Last year we put UTVs to the test in our first-ever Grainews Machinery Challenge. This time, in our second annual event, we turned our focus to equipment suited for on-farm materials handling. But we weren’t just thinking of the typical ag tractor and front-end loader combo. We wanted to look at machines designed primarily to […] Read more

Machinery

Our Grainews Machinery Challenge farmer panel on telehandlers

Reader opinions: two contest-winning farmers joined the Grainews judges to evaluate our test machines

By Leeann Minogue, Scott Garvey September 13, 2017

The “official” judging team for this year’s Grainews Machinery Challenge included active farmers. But we wondered how our group of test machines might fit into our readers’ farming operations. The best way to answer that, we thought, was to put a few of them in the drivers’ seats. So, Grainews held a contest in the […] Read more

(Commercial Port of Vladivostok, vmtp.ru)

Crops, Machinery, Markets

Baltic Dry Index hits three-year highs

By GFM Network News September 12, 2017

CNS Canada — The Baltic Dry Index has seen some strength over the past two months, rising to its highest levels in nearly three years. The BDI settled Monday at 1,355 points, having gained roughly 500 points over the past two months. The index was last this high in November 2014. The BDI is compiled […] Read more

Crops, Machinery, Weather

Feds step in to restore rail service to Churchill

By GFM Network News September 8, 2017

CNS Canada — The federal government says it’s prepared to restore rail service to Hudson Bay at Churchill, Man. The Hudson Bay Railway, running from The Pas to Churchill, was closed in the spring of 2017 after flooding damaged multiple sections of the route to the northern Manitoba community. U.S. rail operator OmniTrax, the line’s […] Read more

Crops, Machinery

New investment leads to new chief at Morris

By Grainews Staff, GFM Network News September 7, 2017

A major cash infusion from a pair of Calgary private investment firms, among others, has put new hands at the helm of farm equipment maker Morris Industries. Morris on Tuesday announced its president, Ben Voss — a Saskatoon engineer and farmer, and one of the players in the new investment group — has also been […] Read more

Motiva Enterprises’ facility at Port Arthur, Tex. is the largest fuel refinery in North America. (Motiva.com)

Crops, Machinery

Diesel prices could rise further in Harvey’s wake

By GFM Network News September 7, 2017

CNS Canada — Diesel prices in Western Canada have risen by about six to seven cents a litre since Hurricane Harvey ravaged the petroleum-rich Texas coast. An expert with the fuel industry says harvest pressure will likely keep the diesel market from correcting downward, and push prices up a bit more. “So (the market) appears […] Read more

Machinery, News

What will farm machines look like in 10 years?

Autonomous drill ready to seed Saskatchewan fields next season

By Scott Garvey August 29, 2017

What were most farmers thinking as they watched DOT, the autonomous implement platform, perform for seemingly never-ending crowds during the Ag in Motion farm show in July? It’s hard to say if it was amazement, excitement that field robots are finally here, or some combination of the two. Whichever it was, DOT, the brainchild of […] Read more

Missing equipment found on a rural property southwest of Saskatoon in 2016 was valued at over $1.2 million. (Photo courtesy Saskatoon RCMP)

Livestock, Machinery

Saskatchewan rancher pleads guilty over stolen ag equipment

By Grainews Staff, GFM Network News August 29, 2017

A western Saskatchewan cattle rancher has pled guilty on 18 charges over the discovery last year of tractors, balers and other farm equipment reported missing in the region, according to Saskatoon media. Iain Stables, 39, of the RM of Montrose entered guilty pleas in Provincial Court in Saskatoon Monday on 17 counts of possession of […] Read more

Crops, Machinery, Reuters

CSX tackling service issues, CEO tells rail regulator

By GFM Network News August 29, 2017

Detroit | Reuters — CSX Corp. said it is dealing with service issues even as it forges ahead with a controversial overhaul of its network that has led dozens of trade groups to call for an investigation into disruptions at the No. 3 U.S. railroad. In a letter released by the regulator on Monday, CSX […] Read more

Crops, Machinery, Reuters, Weather

Harvey’s rains sending fuel prices higher

By GFM Network News August 28, 2017

Houston | Reuters — U.S. fuel prices surged on Monday as two more Gulf Coast refiners cut output and a third considered reductions, leaving more than 13 per cent of the country’s refining capacity offline after Tropical Storm Harvey flooded plants and shut seaports. The storm swung back over the Gulf of Mexico on Monday […] Read more

Daily Network News

U.S. deputy farm secretary to meet with Mosaic amid high fertilizer prices

Corteva taps Luke Kissam to lead crop protection unit after spinoff

Klassen: Stronger fed market pulls feeder cattle complex upward