Latest Newsletter

Tag Archives agricultural machinery — page 6

The used equipment market has seen unprecedented price increases and demand, especially for four-wheel-drive tractors.
Machinery, News

Used farm equipment sees big demand

There’s something very new — and unsettling — about this year’s used equipment market

By
Glacier FarmMedia – This year, any farmer expecting a new tractor in time for spring planting knows they shouldn’t hold their breath.  It may or may not arrive on time. Problems including staff shortages, transportation bottlenecks, a shortage of components — all a result of COVID-19 in one way or another — have hit ag […] Read more
Warren Schneckenburger, Mark Burnham, and Chuck Baresich shared what improvements and changes they made to their equipment set-ups to make it work better for their soil types and farm production methods.
Machinery, News

Grain growers share the best equipment changes they’ve made on-farm

Three farmers reveal top agronomic and efficiency improvements on their operations at IFAO conference

By
There’s always room for improvement when it comes to equipment design and setup, according to grain growers Warren Schneckenburger, Mark Burnham, and Chuck Baresich.  Speaking during the 2022 Innovative Farmers Association of Ontario conference IFAO), each panelist detailed what large overhauls and small tweaks have made the most significant differences on their respective farms.  Why […] Read more
Equipment parts inventory remains low, and farmers have had to stockpile or save parts they wouldn’t normally have in the past.
Machinery, News

Time to rethink equipment parts and service

Farmers may have to learn to live with greater parts scarcity

By
When the pandemic really started to bite in 2020, Mark Brock, a Perth County grain grower, did a risk assessment on his farm. He and his colleagues highlighted a lack of backup inputs and machinery parts as major vulnerabilities.  In response, they increased stocks of both vital components. Parts inventory went from $20,000 or $30,000 […] Read more
A 90-foot boom option for the FA 1030 air boom applicator is now available, in addition to the current 72-foot version.
Machinery

Case IH upgrades planter control, widens dry applicator boom

Increased availability of ISOBUS makes it easier for farm implements to communicate

By
Glacier FarmMedia – The prevalence of ISOBUS implement control compatibility has grown significantly in the past decade.  ISOBUS is a standardized digital format that allows tractors and implements of different brands to communicate with each other. Now most major brands have included at least some measure of that in their systems.  This summer, Case IH […] Read more
TerraClear is developing a robotic rock picker with the company’s TC80 Rock Picker bucket that has two opposing tracks on a hydraulic arm that pulls stones into the bucket. The automated platform is guided by a rock-locating computer program that uses drone imagery to find the big stones.
Machinery

Producers might farm-out robotic agricultural tools services

Whether it’s a drone in the air, a soil sampler in the field or picking tools, it’s a service

By
Glacier FarmMedia – Agricultural robots have opened the door for more farm operations to be contracted out to service companies.  The pace of new robotic-based agricultural platforms developed and tested on North American fields is accelerating, and many of these companies are targeting a service model for their business plan.  Traditional ag retailers plan to […] Read more
Autonomous and AI-based machinery have the potential to both alleviate and exacerbate equipment costs.
Machinery

Ag-tech in 2021: Where to go from here?

There are advances and challenges for equipment developers

By
Improvements in autonomy and artificial intelligence (AI), as well as persistent adoption barriers, characterized much of the ag-tech sector in 2021.  During a Nov. 10 Canada’s Outdoor Farm Show event, Glacier FarmMedia technology reporters Scott Garvey, Robin Booker and Ron Lyseng described the areas where developers are succeeding, where they’re falling short, and how new […] Read more
Completed combines and tractors continue to sit in lots awaiting one or a few individual parts due to supply chain disruptions.
Machinery, News

Labour challenges impact machinery and parts supply

John Deere strike could add further delays to already backlogged equipment sector

By
The first half of 2021 saw varied availability of equipment parts. While the supply of blades and bolts has improved since, a labour strike at John Deere threatens to exacerbate other lingering supply chain problems. Entering its fifth week at the time of publication, and with the union rejecting a recent agreement, the strike at […] Read more
Agrifac is one of the large original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) that are testing the Bilberry technology.
Machinery

The ag game is changing and the intelligence is inside

Artificial intelligence in agriculture is at the technology farmgate with machines that think like farmers

By
Glacier FarmMedia – Artificial intelligence may soon create a sea change in agriculture that could challenge conventional crop production and farm management techniques. Many components required to build autonomous, smart agricultural equipment for vegetable and grain production in North America are already proven technologies. Sensors including cameras, radar and lidar (light detection and ranging), as […] Read more
Joe Dales, top left, of the RH Accelerator, moderated a panel on attracting technicians to the ag equipment sector. Panelists included Dan Howard from Fanshawe College, Lindsay Marten from Huron Tractor, and Larry Hertz of WEDA
Machinery, News

It’s not just about the tractor anymore

Overcoming misconceptions about working on agricultural equipment important to attract youth to the industry

By
As farm equipment becomes more high-tech, it is a challenge to find qualified technicians.  That was the consensus of panellists during a discussion at the virtual Changing Faces of Agriculture event hosted by the London Chamber of Commerce and the Western Fair District.  The panel featured Lindsay Marten, human resources manager for Huron Tractor, Dan […] Read more
MK1 Engineering built a prototype four-row planter to test the AeroTube technology and used it to plant corn plots in six Midwestern states this spring. The company is working to increase planting speed from three to five miles per hour (five to eight km/h).
Machinery

Aerospace know-how focused on planting

System delivers corn seed tip-first into the row to capture more yield potential and improve weed control

By
Glacier FarmMedia – Keith Strang and Mitch Dille had just finished a project in the aerospace industry and were thinking about starting their own company but they needed a problem to solve. Dille, also a farmer, discovered one at a local trade show. A world-record corn grower mentioned the need for a system capable of […] Read more

Cyber-Savvy Farmer

Glacier Farmmedia Podcast