“Tuneable” distribution towers are a key feature made possible by adopting the new XeedSystem flow monitoring system.

XeedSystem and “tuneable” towers improve distribution

New features even out product delivery on SeedMaster Nova cart bulk metering system

Walking through the SeedMaster R&D shop, company president Norbert Beaujot stops beside a group of distribution towers that includes one of his company’s along with some competing models currently on the market. He explains the testing work company engineers have done on them to determine how well they distribute product to openers. “The thing we […] Read more

The “third generation” Viking vertical tillage tool from Versatile will also be available under the company’s Farm King brand as the VT3000.

PHOTOS: Familiar brands, new tillage implements

John Deere, Case IH and Versatile all showed new equipment at the U.S. Farm Progress Show

With a renewed interest in tillage all across the prairies and the need to deal with higher levels of corn residue in fields across the U.S. Midwest, it’s no surprise there were some new tillage tool introductions at the U.S. Farm Progress Show in Boone, Iowa, in August. Here’s a look at what the familiar […] Read more


What’s new in tractors

What’s new in tractors

A roundup of the recent tractor introductions and updates making news this fall

There’s been no shortage of news this season when it comes to new tractor model unveilings and improvements to existing machines. Virtually every brand had something new to show off this year on that front. Many of those new machines debuted at the U.S. Farm Progress Show in Boone, Iowa, in August. To help you […] Read more

Salford introduced a prototype 20 ton air boom spreader during Canada’s Farm Progress Show in Regina in June.

New air-boom spreader from Salford

A customer request for an air boom leads Salford to develop an entirely new model

A prototype air-boom spreader on display at Salford’s Canada’s Farm Progress Show exhibit in Regina was the result of the brand deciding to accommodate a special request from a customer, says Dave King, the company’s director of sales and marketing. “Last year at this show we were showing a MagnaSpread big spreader and we also had […] Read more


After several months of restoration work, Big Roy is now back in as-new condition.

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

Photo: Scott Garvey

Highlights from the U.S. Farm Progress Show

Grainews went to Iowa to see what was on display at the Midwest's largest outdoor ag show

Each year the U.S. Farm Progress Show attracts tens of thousands of visitors. It’s the premier outdoor ag event in the Midwest, and it alternates between show sites at Decatur, Illinois, and Boone, Iowa. This year’s event was in Boone, and despite the downturn in the ag equipment market, it was clear manufacturers haven’t cut […] Read more


The 428 horsepower Kirovets K744 will join the MTZ tractor line in Canada in June. Base price for this tractor is just U.S. $198,000.

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

John Deere adds a 76-foot model to its 1870 air drill lineup and a new 850 bushel cart.

PHOTOS: John Deere debuts new air drill and air cart

A third, wider model joins the 1870 lineup, and a new cart puts more product behind it

This year John Deere unveiled a wider air drill and all-new air cart at Canada’s Farm Progress Show in Regina. The new addition to John Deere’s 1870 line of air drill toolbars stretches the maximum available working width to 76 feet, joining the existing 40- and 56-foot versions. The 76 footer is a five-section design […] Read more


Agrifac’s Condor sprayer took part in a field test recently at the DLG (German Agriculture Society) Field Days in Hassfurt, Germany. 


Sprayer aims at Canadian market

Grainews checked out an in-field demonstration of Agrifac sprayers

If you’ve seen a different coloured sprayer moving through the Prairies, it’s not a custom paint job. Agrifac, a Dutch company with more than 30 years of experience in the design and manufacture of self-propelled sprayers, is taking direct aim at the self-propelled sprayer market with two versions of high-capacity, high-clearance sprayers with features and […] Read more

This photo taken at Massey-Ferguson’s combine test facility in the early 1960s shows the bump track used to test long-term durability.

Shaking things up

Here's how manufacturers test the durability of vehicles and machines

The expectation of quality among buyers of farm machinery has risen substantially in past decades. As a result, all manufacturers have felt the heat to live up to customer demand and implemented a host of new quality control programs both on and off assembly lines, including at the design phase. That goes for vehicle manufacturers […] Read more