Brian Tischler in his “robot room” where he brings big concepts to life.

Alberta farmer powers ahead with free code for farm equipment

Open source farm tech code is like a cookie -- you can change the recipe any way you want

Reading Time: 5 minutes It can boost variable rate mapping. It can help generate guidance maps for the field. It contains the fundamental knowledge for turning an old tractor into an autonomous tractor. And yet the code is available on the internet for free. And Brian Tischler, the central Alberta grain farmer who created AgOpenGPS, is fine with that. […] Read more

(Dave Bedard photo)

Agco buys Manitoba ag autonomy firm JCA

Massey, Fendt maker boosts precision ag capacity

International farm equipment maker Agco is aiming to boost its bench strength in the precision agriculture and autonomous ag sectors by buying a Prairie software and hardware company known for both. Agco, the maker of machinery brands including Massey Ferguson, Fendt, Challenger and Valtra, said Monday it has bought Winnipeg-based JCA Technologies for an undisclosed […] Read more


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

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


(TopconPositioning.com)

Brandt closes GeoShack deal, locks up Topcon sales in Canada

Tractor company revives Ontario deal

A deal to make Brandt Tractor the exclusive dealer for Topcon geopositioning equipment clear across Canada has been resuscitated. Regina-based Brandt announced Tuesday it has closed its previously-announced deal to buy the assets of GeoShack Canada — two weeks after Dallas-based GeoShack declared that “a mutually beneficial deal… has not been attained.” GeoShack has been […] Read more

(TopconPositioning.com)

Brandt deal for Topcon distributor in Ontario falls through

GeoShack says will remain 'independently owned'

A proposal that would have made farm equipment maker Brandt the exclusive dealer for Topcon GPS equipment in Canada has fallen through without a sealed deal. GeoShack Canada, the “master dealer” for TopCon equipment in Ontario through its locations in Toronto, Ottawa and London, announced Tuesday that a completed acquisition by the Regina-based Brandt Group […] Read more


(TopconPositioning.com)

Brandt buys GeoShack’s Ontario business

Deal makes equipment firm the exclusive Topcon dealer for Canada

Farm, forestry and construction equipment maker Brandt is about to buy itself a lock on the market for Topcon GPS equipment in Canada. The Regina-based Brandt Group announced Wednesday it has reached a deal to buy the assets of GeoShack Canada Co. and the Canadian assets of Inteq Distributors, both owned by Dallas-based Ultara Holdings. […] Read more

(UrosPoteko/iStock/Getty Images)

Regulator finds cannabis company disclosures inadequate

Toronto | Reuters — A Canadian regulatory group said on Wednesday that it had found that the level and quality of disclosure by cannabis companies was insufficient. The Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA), which conducted a review of disclosure practices of 70 Canadian and U.S. cannabis producers, said some companies were inconsistent in complying with Canadian […] Read more


The broad-acre model of Outback Guidance’s Rebel autosteer system offers precision up to a six- to eight-inch cross-track error margin. (OutbackRebel.com)

Former sister firm to buy Outback Guidance

Farm GPS guidance and autosteering equipment company AgJunction is set to sell its Outback Guidance business to a satellite positioning tech firm it spun off five years earlier. Kansas-based AgJunction announced Monday it has sold the Outback assets to Hemisphere GNSS, a Scottsdale, Ariz. company owned by Chinese firm Beijing UniStrong, for an undisclosed sum. […] Read more