The sticker price of new equipment is bad enough but it’s the cost of used machines that has many farmers shaking their heads, says Jason Lenz.

No end in sight for soaring farm equipment costs

It’s not just the price tags on new equipment that’s shocking, it’s also the spillover effect in the used market

Reading Time: 3 minutes Prices for farm equipment continue to rise. And it’s not just fancy new iron that’s causing farmers to do double takes. How does $62,972 sound for a 1994 New Holland 9680 tractor? How about $49,995 for a 1995 John Deere 1850 air drill? Or $80,000 for an older tandem axle grain truck? “You’re seeing an […] Read more

Running equipment on the same tracks all the time is the essence of controlled traffic farming — and while the practice only has a few adherents in Alberta, they are passionate about its benefits.

Controlled traffic farming is proving its worth, say advocates

The system ‘shines’ during droughts and lets farmers seed and harvest sooner when it’s wet, they say

Reading Time: 4 minutes Controlled traffic farming has yet to catch on in a big way in Alberta, but it proved its worth during last year’s drought for a long-time practitioner. “I grew canola and barley last year and we had 28-bushel canola on four and a half inches of rain and five weeks of smoking hot weather,” said […] Read more


trevor scherman

Calibrate the combine to boost profits

An hour or two spent properly calibrating your machine could be the most lucrative time you spend this harvest

Reading Time: 3 minutes Farmers will spare no expense when it comes to tending their crops and maximizing production. So why do they spit so many of their profits out the back end of their combines at harvest? It’s a mystery to North Battleford farmer and inventor Trevor Scherman, one of the speakers at the recent Ag in Motion […] Read more

A CNH Industrial building in Turin, Italy. Photo: Reuters/ Massimo Pinca/File

CNH Industrial beats profit estimates, confirms outlook despite recession fears

Milan | Reuters – Agricultural and construction machine maker CNH Industrial CNHI.MI beat estimates on Friday with a 14 percent rise in industrial operating profit in the second quarter and confirmed its full year outlook despite bracing for a global recession. “Whether we face a global recession in 2023 is up for debate, but we […] Read more


PAMI to close Portage la Prairie location

PAMI to close Portage la Prairie location

Revenue challenges in recent years blamed for Manitoba site's closure

The product development, testing and design firm Prairie Agricultural Machinery Institute (PAMI), will be closing its Portage la Prairie, Man. location at the end of July. Citing revenue challenges in recent years as the reason for downsizing, the institute informed staff and clients of the closure of its River Road facility in Portage, prior to […] Read more

tractor seeding in a field

The buyers are willing but the equipment supply chain is weak

Farm equipment sales jump but availability of new machines and parts for older ones remain an issue

Reading Time: 4 minutes Driven by high commodity prices and low interest rates, sales of farm equipment shot up last year — but getting delivery was a huge headache for many. Sales of four-wheel-drive tractors in Canada rose 33 per cent, 100+ horsepower tractors were up 34 per cent, and combines were up 23 per cent, according to data […] Read more


A unit from Massey Ferguson’s VE Series of planters. (News.agcocorp.com)

Agco ransomware attack disrupts equipment sales

Dealerships cut off from parts ordering system

Reuters — U.S. agricultural equipment maker Agco Corp. said on Friday a ransomware attack was affecting operations at some of its production facilities, and dealers said tractor sales had been stalled during the crucial planting season. Georgia-based Agco, whose brands include Massey Ferguson, Fendt, Challenger and Valtra, said in a statement it expects operations at […] Read more

Screengrab from a CNH promotional video of its Magnum tractor assembly plant at Racine, Wisconsin. (CNH video)

Workers on strike at two U.S. CNH plants

Production of Magnum tractors, combine headers affected

Workers at two CNH Industrial manufacturing plants in the U.S. Midwest have hit the picket line after their previous contract expired without an agreed-upon replacement. United Auto Workers, whose locals 180 and 807 represent over 1,000 employees at CNH’s plants at Racine, Wisconsin and Burlington, Iowa respectively, said Monday the workers went on strike that […] Read more


A CNH manufacturing plant at Sorocaba, west of Sao Paulo in southeastern Brazil. (Photo courtesy CNH Industrial)

CNH confident on navigating supply issues beyond first quarter

Market environment remains 'a battle'

Milan | Reuters — CNH Industrial beat first-quarter earnings expectations on Tuesday and the agricultural and construction machine maker’s CEO said he was confident the company could successfully navigate ongoing global supply chain issues. “Don’t underestimate how difficult the environment is, it’s a battle,” CEO Scott Wine told analysts after the company posted a 9.2 […] Read more

Here’s an example of both a tractor and trailing equipment safely travelling under an overhead power line. However, it doesn’t always work that way. Producers should know the size of their equipment and the laws around safe transportation height before attempting to travel under a line.

Bigger equipment can spell big trouble with power lines

Fortis says sprayers and air seeders came into contact with power lines 20 times last year

Reading Time: 4 minutes Farm equipment is getting bigger and it’s no longer uncommon to see air seeders in the 75-foot-wide range that fold up to considerable height in transport mode as well. But when is big too big? Or more precisely, when is ag equipment too large to safely clear power lines? Last year, Fortis Alberta responded to […] Read more