Deere and Co. reported higher-than-expected quarterly profit on Wednesday on strong sales of its tractors and harvesters in the Americas. But concerns that farm-belt spending and commodity prices were poised to weaken sent shares lower. Earlier this year, Deere, the world’s largest maker of agricultural equipment, lowered its outlook for fiscal 2013 revenue, saying a […] Read more
Deere profit jumps; concerns over farm-belt spending
Video: Adjust your combine for crop condition
It’s a common misconception that the settings laid out in the operator’s manual will give a producer perfect performance from his or her combine every time. As Les Hill, ag and bioresources program director with the Prairie Agricultural Machinery Institute (PAMI), tells Grainews machinery editor Scott Garvey in this video, every combine needs to be […] Read more
U.S. EPA expects to reduce biofuels volumes for 2014
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Tuesday maintained its overall target for biofuel use in 2013, but said it would use its authority to lower the volume goal for 2014 from the current requirement. The decision to adjust biofuel targets for 2014 should offer relief to refiners squeezed by rising prices for renewable fuel credits, […] Read more
TPG Capital LP among MacDon bidders
TPG Capital LP is one of the final bidders for MacDon Industries Ltd, a Winnipeg-based manufacturer of agricultural machinery looking to sell itself for around $1 billion, three people familiar with the matter said July 8. The private equity firm is working on making a binding bid for MacDon by the mid-July deadline for final […] Read more
Machinery tours: Build it and they will come
Last March, Grainews editor Leeann Minogue and her husband traveled to Nebraska to see their new Case IH combine come off the assembly line at CNH’s Grand Island plant. (You can read about their experience in this article in the current issue of Grainews.) This kind of working vacation is becoming more and more popular […] Read more
From Grainews: Grain bag unloading made simpler
Neeralta Manufacturing at Neerlandia, north of Edmonton, has this year introduced a new grain bag extractor, that not only unloads nine- to 12-foot wide grain bags but also wraps and ties the plastic into a handy bale for easy disposal — all in one easy operation. The new extractor is available in both trailer and […] Read more
EU lawmakers deal blow to crop-based biofuels
EU efforts to limit the use of crop-based biofuels, increasingly seen as doing the planet more harm than good, won parliamentary backing on Thursday in what a top biodiesel company called “a very bad blow.” The vote in the European Parliament’s environment committee will be followed by a plenary vote, expected in September. It will […] Read more
E-Quip Blog: Agco to introduce smaller RoGator
Last year Agco announced it was “retiring” its SpraCoupe brand of sprayers, which catered to farmers who want smaller-sized application equipment. That left Agco with just its RoGator and TerraGator lines of higher-capacity machines. But with the recent announcement of the pending introduction of the RG700 RoGator, it’s clear the company still sees a market […] Read more
Robots to drones, Australia eyes high-tech farm help to grow food
Reading Time: 3 minutes Reuters / Moving carefully along a row of apple trees, two of Australia’s newest agricultural workers check if the fruit is ripe or the soil needs water or fertilizer. Meet “Mantis” and “Shrimp,” agricultural robots being tested to do these tasks and more in a bid to cut costs and improve productivity in Australia’s economically […] Read more
EQuip Blog: Every which way but loose
If the title of this week’s blog had you hoping I’d be talking about Clint Eastwood movies, I’m sorry to disappoint you. It’s just that another restoration project is getting up to speed in my workshop, and I’ve done little else lately than spend time trying to loosen very rusty bolts, nearly all of which […] Read more
