Paris | Reuters — Agricultural machinery maker Claas said Thursday it expects difficulties in securing semiconductor chips to persist for the first half of next year, which could curb a surge in profits linked to booming farm demand. An upturn in orders from farmers, who are benefiting from high crop prices after several lean years, […] Read more

Claas sees more semiconductor chip snags in 2022
'It's going to be a tough next six months'

Biden seeks to lift limits on U.S. farmer dealings with tractor makers, packers
Executive order to address corporate 'abuses of power'
Washington | Reuters — U.S. President Joe Biden wants to give that country’s farmers more power in negotiating the sale of livestock to big processors and in deciding who repairs their tractors, the White House said on Tuesday. The executive order, expected within days, will also address such competitive issues as delayed airline baggage, cellphone […] Read more

Buhler pulls Farm King manufacturing back to Canada
Work to halt at Minnesota plant early next year
Winnipeg farm equipment maker Buhler Industries is relocating its Farm King manufacturing work back to Canada from the U.S. this winter. After consolidating its U.S. manufacturing this summer into one plant at Willmar, Minn., about 140 km west of Minneapolis, the company said Thursday it will also halt production at Willmar in early 2021. Buhler, […] Read more

Is the weed seed ‘destructor’ ready for prime time in Alberta?
Invention is now cheaper and easier to use, but it's still ‘a hard sell’ for farmers
Reading Time: 5 minutes In the battle against herbicide-resistant weeds here in Alberta, the Harrington Seed Destructor might just win us the war — if farmers can justify the $100,000 price tag. “If herbicides are still working, it can be hard to convince producers to spend that kind of money to purchase this kind of equipment,” said federal research […] Read more

VIDEO: You have to seed it to believe it
Ag in Motion 2018: Air seeders put to the test in live field demos
Reading Time: < 1 minute If you attended Ag in Motion last month, hopefully you made your way over to the field demonstration area where there was no shortage of activity. Here, sprayers were compared side-by-side in the Ride & Drive, land-levellers churned out arable land from pasture, and as you’ll see in this video, a variety of air seeders […] Read more

CNH Industrial improves guidance after strong Q2, shares up 10 pct
Milan | Reuters (July 26, 2018) – Truck and tractor maker CNH Industrial raised its full-year guidance on Tuesday after better-than-expected quarterly earnings, sparking a more than 10 percent rally in its shares. Milan-listed shares closed 10.6 percent higher at 9.93 euros, making it the best performer on the city’s blue-chip index, which ended the session […] Read more

Official says ‘One Seat, One Rider’ should be the rule on every farm
Machinery accidents cause the majority of fatalities among children on the farm
Reading Time: 2 minutes Daddy, can I have a ride?’ “Riding on the tractor with Dad has been a long-standing tradition for many farm families,” said Janice Donkers, youth farm safety co-ordinator with Alberta Agriculture and Forestry. “It’s not uncommon to hear the older generations boast about how young they were when they first began riding on or operating […] Read more

Coop federee to exit machinery parts distribution
Citing “a period of pronounced decline” in its farm machinery business, Quebec farm co-operative La Coop federee plans to get out of parts distribution by next fall. The co-operative announced May 30 it plans to “gradually” close its Dispro farm equipment and parts distribution centre at Trois-Rivieres over a 12- to 15-month period from September […] Read more

Lack of maintenance could bite you hard this seeding season
Breakdowns hurt even more during a narrow seeding window — here’s some advice on last-minute servicing
Reading Time: 4 minutes Efficiency is likely to be more important this seeding season than ever for many Alberta farmers. To squeeze as many acres into the tight seeding window as possible, the temptation is to jack up travel speed and many wonder if they should invest in higher-tech equipment. Those farmers will be looking in the wrong direction […] Read more

Cash is your best bet when buying machinery
If you're going to 'run the hell out of your equipment,' lease it
Reading Time: 4 minutes When you sit down across a desk from your equipment dealer, you’re out to get the best deal you can — and your dealer is out to make a profit. So how can you keep more jingle in your own jeans? “It doesn’t matter if you pay cash, you finance it, or you lease it,” […] Read more