Reading Time: 4 minutes It’s been an uphill battle but the right-to-repair movement isn’t giving up and is getting closer to winning over lawmakers, says a leading American advocate. Right-to-repair legislation has been introduced in 42 states and two provinces — but none of the bills have made it into law, Gay Gordon-Byrne, head of The Repair Association, conceded […] Read more
Right-to-repair advocates fighting, but not gaining much ground
No right-to-repair laws have been passed; dealers association says lack of broadband is the real issue
Drones are ready to go spraying but regs haven’t kept up
Larger drones now a viable alternative but federal rules don’t allow spraying crop protection products
Reading Time: 4 minutes A single drone can fly into rough terrain and spray herbicide on hard-to-reach patches of weeds. Fly three of the largest in tandem and they have the airborne equivalent of a 100-foot spray boom, say proponents, with a cost one-quarter to one-third that of a 100-foot boom. Welcome to the world of drones that can […] Read more
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
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
Supply doesn’t meet demand for ag workers in Alberta
People are submitting applications, but there’s a lack of follow-through and quality, say business owners
Reading Time: 3 minutes Aerial field sprayers are the fighter pilots of industry, swooping low and fast while dropping chemical armaments over fields. They’re used to challenges such as avoiding obstacles including power lines, trees, buildings and vehicles. But they’re facing a new challenge — getting chemical delivered to the aircraft. Calvin Murray, founder of Early Bird Air near […] Read more
Know your timing between spraying and swathing
Reading Time: < 1 minute The industry association Keep it Clean reminds that insecticide and fungicide applications must meet pre-harvest interval (PHI) requirements, which is the minimum acceptable number of days between applying a product and swathing or straight-cutting the crop. While most fields are still several weeks away from PHI being an immediate concern, pre-planning maximizes options. Keep it Clean’s […] Read more
Weather swing prompts questions on spray water quality
Many areas have seen significant changes in water quality, which can affect the impact of herbicides
Reading Time: 2 minutes You may think you know what to expect when drawing water for the sprayer. That assumption may come at a cost, says expert Tom Wolf of Agrimetrix Research and Training. Swings in weather, from drought last year to wet this year, can affect water quality, said the author of the popular blog, Sprayers 101. “Things […] Read more
CNH buys spray boom manufacturing capacity
Specialty Enterprises has supplied Case IH with booms
A Wisconsin company that has supplied aluminum spray booms for Case IH sprayer product lines has been brought in-house. CNH Industrial, owner of the Case IH and New Holland brands, announced May 23 it has bought Specialty Enterprises, which is billed as North America’s biggest maker of aluminum spray booms for farm applications as well […] Read more
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
Water quality can make a difference on herbicide efficacy
Glyphosate in particular is prone to being tied up by hard water, which may be more common this year
Reading Time: 4 minutes Water quality can change after a drought — and that can affect the efficacy of your herbicides. “It’s well known that there are certain things in water — chemicals, salts, metal cations — that can antagonize the spray,” said well-known spray expert Tom Wolf. “With much lower water levels, it’s conceivable that those antagonists will […] Read more
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