Glacier FarmMedia – Growing multiple varieties of wheat together can reduce disease pressure just as much as a fungicide application does, according to research out of Pennsylvania State University. Julie Baniszewski led a research project that compared a wheat crop composed of four different varieties, to a single wheat variety that received a fungicide application. […] Read more
Wheat and more wheat, multiple varieties grown in one field
Researchers have found that several wheat varieties mixed in the same crop offer disease and insect protection
Autonomous baler handles tedious part of job
Robot uses a scouring pattern to find bales in the field
Glacier FarmMedia – Collecting bales that are spread out across large fields is an onerous job. That’s why Vermeer has developed an autonomous bale mover. “We saw a need out there starting with biomass, where we needed to pick up a bunch of corn stalk bales and put them to the edge of the field,” […] Read more
Versatile tractors receive ‘mid-cycle refresh’
Deltatrack and large-frame four-wheel-drive tractors come with same engine but have been tweaked to deliver more power
Glacier FarmMedia – Versatile DeltaTrack and large-frame, four-wheel-drive tractors have been updated with more power and comfort for the 2022 model year. “It’s a mid-cycle refresh,’’ said Adam Reid, vice-president of sales and marketing at Versatile. The tractors come with the same 15-litre Cummins engine that Versatile has used since 2007, but they have been […] Read more
American farmers’ right to repair powered by the president
Glacier FarmMedia – U.S. President Joe Biden has issued an executive order on a farmer’s right to repair equipment. Biden signed the order July 9 that asks the Federal Trade Commission to force large manufacturers, including tech companies and agricultural equipment makers, to let consumers repair their own devices or use the technician of their […] Read more
Trimble looks beyond the headlands in the future
Autonomous operations stretch past the fields’ edges and work with whole-farm operational logistics
Glacier FarmMedia – Horsch and Trimble are working together on autonomous-agricultural robots. Phillip Horsch, owner of Horsch, tweeted a video of a robot pulling a planter during its spring testing regime, the first of three robotic prototypes the company plans to test this year. The robot in Horsch’s video is equipped with Trimble technology, and […] Read more
Finding green on green and dead where it needs to be
Spot spraying: Reliably identifying green weeds among a green crop has long been a goal for spot spraying herbicides
Glacier FarmMedia – There’s a race to build computer programs that instantly differentiate weeds from crops within images taken by sprayer-boom mounted cameras. Green-on-brown spraying, where cameras identify plants on brown soil background for burndown applications, has been around for at least 15 years. Weed-It, John Deere See & Spray Select and Amazone AmaSpot can […] Read more
Solar-powered trap hunts what bugs crops
Insects pose for mugshots and get identified in a digital lineup before the scouting call gets made to the farmer
Glacier FarmMedia – Metos Canada offers remote monitoring of crop pests with a lineup of IOT (internet of things)-based devices, called iScout. Why it matters: Crop monitoring tools can help farmers protect fields and avoid yield-damaging pest incursions. The devices are built by Austrian technology firm Pessl Instruments, which sells a roster of wireless sensors […] Read more
Debating the future of farm equipment
Some will be large, but there’s also a trend to smaller machines powered by renewable energy
Glacier FarmMedia – Four leaders of major companies that sell farm equipment in North America came together for a panel discussion on what agriculture will look like in 20 years, during a virtual version of the Commodity Classic. Their predictions are nothing new but the scale of change they predict might be eyebrow-raising. Why it […] Read more
Maintaining tracks improves life and performance
There is a common misconception that track systems increase maintenance time and costs, but companies say no
Glacier FarmMedia – Track systems built for agriculture applications have come a long way during the past decade, but as with anything, they require maintenance. There used to be a larger variety of styles of tracked machines equipment manufacturers sold to farmers and they each had different maintenance demands. Now though, most track systems are […] Read more
Bobcat handler gives bigger reach, power
Telehandlers were once seen as a nice option on the farm. For those who have them, they are now a necessary tool
Glacier FarmMedia – Bobcat beefed up its telehandler lineup with the introduction of the V923 VersaHandler this summer. The company already offers a V519 telehandler that has 74 horsepower and can lift 5,500 pounds with a 19-foot-high maximum height, as well as a 100 h.p. V723 that can lift 7,700 lbs. and a maximum height […] Read more
Cyber-Savvy Farmer
