Crop input retail chain Blair’s Crop Solutions has a deal in place to sell one of its eastern Saskatchewan sites to meet its obligation to federal regulators. The chain, a joint venture between Federated Co-operatives and the Blair’s Family of Companies, announced Monday it will sell its site at Lipton, Sask., about 80 km west […] Read more
Buyer found for ag retailer Blair’s contested outlet
ProSoils to buy Blair's location at Lipton, Sask.
CNH buys software house NX9 to bolster ag business
Milan | Reuters — CNH Industrial has bought software engineering firm NX9, it said on Thursday, in a further step to boost digital innovation in its agricultural division as it prepares to spin off its truck, bus and engine operations. U.S.-based NX9 is a small software house specializing in so-called ‘ISOBUS’ technology for agricultural equipment, […] Read more
Spot spraying gets lots of looks but many farmers seem hesitant
Some are holding off on ‘green-on-brown’ weed tech until it costs less and does more
Reading Time: 3 minutes When it comes to precision-farming technology, automated spot spraying of weeds would be a science fiction dream come true. If it lives up to its promise, farmers would save countless dollars in reduced herbicide use, benefit the environment, and maybe even gain the upper hand in battling herbicide resistance. In Canada, the face of spot […] Read more
DOT earns passing grades at college, but not straight A’s
Fuel and labour are issues but the driverless implement shows plenty of potential in Olds College trials
Reading Time: 4 minutes Is the DOT ready for a full-time job on your operation? It might be too early to say, but researchers know the self-propelled, driverless tractor-minus-the-tractor finishes what it starts. “Every mission we started with DOT we were able to finish with DOT,” said Joy Agnew with Olds College. “There was never a catastrophic failure or […] Read more
Mexican judge rejects industry bid to halt GMO corn, glyphosate ban
Farm council warns of lost productivity
Mexico City | Reuters — A Mexican federal judge ruled against a request by the National Farm Council to freeze a government plan to ban genetically modified (GMO) corn and the widely used herbicide glyphosate by 2024, the national science council said on Monday. Judge Martin Adolfo Santos Perez’s ruling allows the executive order issued […] Read more
Federal reprieve for imidacloprid cuts its application rates
Proposal for near-total ban rejected in Health Canada's final decision
A member of the neonicotinoid family of insesticides and seed treatments has been pulled back from the brink of an all-out ban in Health Canada’s final re-evaluation ruling. Most agricultural uses of imidacloprid — sold by Bayer under brands such as Gaucho, Merit and Admire, and by Adama under brands such as Alias and Sombrero […] Read more
Alberta’s Blue Book is the same, but better
Reading Time: < 1 minute While the latest edition of the Blue Book is basically the same, it has a few “refinements.” When the province announced last year it would no longer publish the crop protection guide on fungicides, herbicides, insecticides and seed treatments, the big four crop commissions stepped in. That includes a rewrite (by AgSafe Alberta) of the […] Read more
Health Canada steps back from bans on two neonics
New limits, some cancellations to be put in place
A federal proposal to protect aquatic insect habitat by cancelling all registered outdoor uses for two popular ag insecticides has been walked back in a major way. Health Canada on Wednesday announced its special review decisions on the risks to aquatic bug life from the use of clothianidin and thiamethoxam, both pesticides and seed treatments […] Read more
Cervus to fold two dealerships into one
Reading Time: < 1 minute Cervus Equipment is building a new facility near Penhold that will combine operations from its Red Deer and Olds John Deere dealership locations. The new 44,000-square-foot facility at the junction of Highway 2 and Highway 42 is expected to open in early 2022. Travel charges for field service technicians will be charged at the same […] Read more
Remote diagnostics blocked by poor internet on farms
Reading Time: < 1 minute Waiting for a dealership tech or mechanic to come to your farm to fix a problem is frustrating for farmers — but also for those who work on equipment. As with home computers or computer-controlled industrial machines, technicians can remotely access the onboard computers on farm equipment. But only if there’s broadband internet. “So on […] Read more
Cyber-Savvy Farmer
