Premier Equipment

Premier Equipment expands John Deere dealership with acquisition in Belleville

Premier Equipment has acquired the John Deere dealership business of Deerhaven Farm and Garden Ltd. Based in Belleville, Deerhaven Farm and Garden Ltd. has been in business since 1994 and serves customers in the Quinte region, spanning portions of Northumberland, Prince Edward County, Hastings, Lennox and Addington Counties. Since 2016, Premier Equipment has been the […] Read more

The Stratus AirSprayer is essentially a powered paraglider — one that can carry heavier loads and stay aloft much longer than conventional drones. Photo: Supplied

Paraglider powers a new kind of sprayer

The Stratus AirSprayer is different than the quadcopters and fixed-wing UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles) typically associated with ag drones. Essentially, it’s a powered paraglider — one that can carry heavier loads and stay aloft much longer than conventional drones.

crop sprayer

Crop spraying in Europe sees high scrutiny

A British sprayer operator highlighted differences in sprayer awareness between Canada and the U.K.

Conditions for operating a sprayer in the United Kingdom, as in much of the European Union, are different from those in Canada or the U.S. “In the U.K., we have to pass tests before we start spraying,” said Iain Richardson, a sprayer operator from South Gloucestershire, England, who spoke at the Ontario Soil and Crop […] Read more


Marcel Kringe, founder and CEO and Courtney Baxter, global marketing manager, with Bushel Plus show one of the combine concaves they are marketing at Agritechnica.  Photo: John Greig

Agritechnica update: Canadian content and a John Deere update

There’s significant Canadian content at Agritechnica. Large companies like AGI and MacDon have impressive displays with significant real estate. I also happened upon the Canada pavilion, packed with companies familiar to many of us, including Honey Bee, Mankato, Schulte and Bushel Plus. The companies say that there’s value in companies from Canada banding together to […] Read more


Agco has introduced a two-model sprayer line under its Massey Ferguson brand with 740 and 860 gallon (2,800 and 3,255 litre) tank capacities.

New Agco sprayers target total cost of ownership

“Entry level” models introduced under the MF brand are available with 90 and 100-foot booms

[UPDATED: Oct. 30, 2023] When Agco moved to differentiate its two main machinery brands in North America, Massey Ferguson and Fendt, it gave Massey the tag line “straightforward and dependable.” Product managers say that means a line offering fewer high-end options and, generally, a lower price tag. On the other hand, Fendt has been positioned […] Read more

The three 10-foot covers prevent ambient sunlight from entering the spraying chamber. The Ecorobotix uses its own light source so the algorithms always know what their light waves signify.

Precision sprayer cuts chemical use

System uses individualized sensors and nozzles for each row crop and shroud to help prevent spray drift

Glacier FarmMedia – Makers of the Ecorobotix ARA claim their sprayer can apply chemical to a crop using one nozzle per row. Each is triggered to turn on and off using instructions from a single sensor dedicated to reading that specific crop row, on a 20-foot sprayer at 5.5 km/h. The company also says the […] Read more

This is an intimidating view of what it looks like if you want to re-plumb the sprayer to install a recirculating boom. Tom Wolf says it may look scary, but the recirculating boom actually simplifies the sprayer’s plumbing.

Circular thinking, recirculating spray booms

Farmers told recirculating can reduce cost, time and environmental impact and manage water at priming and cleaning

Glacier FarmMedia – Recirculating booms have been around for half a decade, although the concept first came to Canada from Pommier about 20 years ago. Some farmers remain unconvinced that they can save time, cut waste and cover more acres per day. That’s why Tom Wolf, the Nozzle Guy, (sprayers101.com) decided recirculating booms should be […] Read more


An example image analysis flow for conventional weed detection algorithms to extract ginger plants from the background and to then identify purple nutsedge. The original image is first transformed into the hue, saturation, and value colour space, before image features such as mean colour channel statistics are calculated, thresholds applied through a deterministic algorithm, resulting in the identification of ginger plant.

What’s next for precision spray application?

It’s AI technologies that incorporate a deeper learning, says Australian expert

Guy Coleman, precision weed control researcher at the University of Sydney, says incorporating deep-learning capabilities into sprayer artificial intelligence (AI) systems will allow for ever more efficient weed control while reducing inputs and resistance risk. “Australia has had a long battle with resistance. That’s why I guess some of this technology is being developed out […] Read more

Case IH plans to release a fully autonomous Trident 5550 dry product spreader to the North American market in 2023.

Case IH debuts a fully autonomous Trident spreader

The brand says it’s the first of many market-ready autonomous machines to come

Glacier FarmMedia – Six years ago, Case IH dazzled the crowd at the United States’ Farm Progress Show held in Boone, Iowa, with its concept fully autonomous, cab-less Magnum tractor. That year, the Case IH exhibit attracted large crowds on each day of the event, as everyone vied for a close-up look at the robotic […] Read more