Screengrab from a Wheelman autosteer installation video. (HandsFreeFarm.com)

Kubota to buy autosteer maker AgJunction

All-cash deal worth about $91 million

Autosteer and ag equipment guidance system maker AgJunction is poised to sell itself to farm equipment maker Kubota Corp. in a $91 million all-cash deal. Publicly-traded AgJunction, which is registered in Calgary but based at Scottsdale, Ariz., said Thursday its board has unanimously approved Kubota’s 75-cents-per-share proposal and recommended shareholders vote in favour. AgJunction would […] Read more

(GFM file photo)

Cargill, ADM sell GrainBridge to ag software firm Bushel

'Network effect' expected in grains sector

An online service farmers use to manage grain sales with ADM’s elevators and processing plants across Canada — along with Cargill and ADM elevators in the U.S. — is under new ownership. ADM and Cargill, the two major U.S.-based agribusinesses that set up GrainBridge in 2019, announced Tuesday they’ve sold it to Bushel, a Fargo, […] Read more


Layering on digital data

Reading Time: < 1 minute Olds College Smart Farm has received a $300,000 donation from BASF Digital Farming for HyperLayer data concept.  This process collects and analyzes several layers of data from across the Smart Farm’s 2,800 acres.  “It centres around compiling topographical data, detailed soil nutrient and moisture mapping, multi-spectral and hyper-spectral imagery, yield data, and other layers of […] Read more

All of the data from monitors, sensors, cameras, and precision tech embedded on its campus farm will end up at Lakeland’s new digital data lab.

Lakeland opens its latest new facility at Vermilion campus

New ag tech centre has state-of-the-art data collection and analysis lab along with a ‘makerspace’ area

Reading Time: < 1 minute Lakeland College has officially opened its new Agriculture Technology Centre, saying it will put students and researchers “at the forefront of the high-tech advancements in agriculture.” And high tech has become a must-have, says college president and CEO Alice Wainwright-Stewart. “Without technological advancements, traditional agriculture can’t keep up with the demands of today’s world,” Wainwright-Stewart […] Read more


The SHARP program is a way to know your land better, improve management practices and demonstrate stewardship efforts, says Melissa Downing, pictured with husband Murray and their children Colten and Rayna.

Using a conservation assessment as a springboard

Program offers a check on wildlife and ranch health, and works with ranchers to make improvements

Reading Time: 4 minutes Sometimes, you don’t know what you’ve got until you have a wildlife habitat assessment done. That was the case for Melissa and Murray Downing, who were among the first to participate in a relatively new initiative by the Alberta Conservation Association. “We learned a lot about the different species that exist here,” said Melissa who […] Read more

A side view of Trimble’s EZ-Pilot Pro guidance system mounted on a tractor’s steering column. (Agriculture.trimble.com)

Trimble dealer shores up cross-Canada coverage

Vantage Canada picks up Ontario rights

The company handling sales and service for Trimble precision ag technology across most of Canada has reached a deal to handle the rest of it. Vantage Canada announced Friday it has bought the Trimble dealership rights and assets for Ontario from Premier Equipment, a John Deere dealership chain with nine locations in the province’s southern […] Read more


Technology updates on the 2022 GMC Sierra 1500 pickup, due to be released this fall, are expected to include a new version of Super Cruise, a hands-free driving feature for use on “divided and compatible” highways. (Media.gm.ca)

GM says chip situation improving

All of automaker's pickup truck plants operating

Reuters — Top U.S. automaker General Motors said on Friday the semiconductor chip shortage that has hit production at automakers worldwide was abating, while reporting its first quarterly sales fall in a year. “As we look to the fourth quarter, a steady flow of vehicles held at plants will continue to be released to dealers,” […] Read more

U of A student chosen for Youth Ag Summit

Reading Time: < 1 minute Amanda Hardman from Stony Plain is one of two Canadians chosen to participate in the global Youth Ag Summit, although this year’s event will be a virtual affair.  More than 2,000 youth from almost 100 countries applied for the January event, “a community of global young leaders championing sustainable agriculture and food security” by submitting […] Read more


File photo of equipment tracks over a field in England. (Georgeclerk/E+/Getty Images)

Regulations on gene-edited crops to be eased in England

London | Reuters — Britain’s farming and environment minister George Eustice announced Wednesday that regulations related to gene editing in agricultural research would be eased in England following a public consultation. Rules will now largely be aligned with conventional breeding methods for research and development into plants although scientists will still be required to notify […] Read more

Huawei Technologies CFO Meng Wanzhou leaves her home to attend a court hearing in Vancouver on Sept. 24, 2021. (Photo: Reuters/Jesse Winter)

Huawei executive, U.S. reach deal to dismiss charges

Meng Wanzhou would be allowed to leave Canada

Updated, Sept. 24 — Reuters — Huawei chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou has reached an agreement with U.S. prosecutors to end the bank fraud case against her, U.S. prosecutors said on Friday, a move that should allow her to leave Canada and relieve a point of tension between China and the United States. Meng was […] Read more