Anyone who has operated or worked on repairing machinery has from time to time cursed the engineer who came up with an awkward design, or when fighting with a part that is nearly impossible to remove and replace when it fails. But what if one of the major brands knocked on your door and asked[...]
The diversity gap
Canada’s population is becoming increasingly diverse. Statistics Canada estimates that immigrants made up roughly 22 per cent of the population in 2016, and our country expects to welcome over 400,000 more per year until 2024. This will almost certainly result in a continually growing percentage of visible minorities among Canada’s working age people over the[...]
Into the future
While it’s not exactly as futuristic as 2001: A Space Odyssey, it’s no longer such a big stretch to imagine the day when a single operator anywhere in the world can remotely control 25 to 30 tractors, and when our crops effectively send us emails letting us know what they need. As professor and chair[...]
Why Kubota thinks you’ll buy more of its farm equipment
As I walked through Kubota’s new headquarters in Grapevine, Texas, one particular observation stood out to me. In other companies’ offices and engineering centres that I’ve visited, there was never any shortage of images of the brand’s machines lining the hallway walls. The offices in the Kubota building were stylish and comfortable with plenty of[...]
It’s YOUR farm data
Long before the social media scandal that rocked Facebook and bankrupted Cambridge Analytica, Kelly Bronson was looking into how data is collected, who uses it and how they are benefitting from it in Canada’s agri-food sector. “For a couple of years, I’ve been doing qualitative research into the social scientific aspect of data collection in[...]
How "free" is the free trade in agricultural equipment?
In the last few years, we’ve heard a lot of passionate political speeches about so-called free trade agreements. It’s a topic that is really more than a century old in this country, going back as far as 1911 when the failed push for “Reciprocity” between Canada and the U.S. made headlines as a hot-button issue.[...]
Satellites and ag drones link up
For “eye-in-the-sky” technology, the last three years have seen some stunning advances, especially in the use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and satellite imaging systems. Yet while both made headlines about the same time in 2011, both also had limited success on the farm, as is often the case when new technologies first get into[...]
Biggest U.S. rail union rejects tentative deal, raising threat of strike
Washington/Los Angeles | Reuters -- Workers at the largest U.S. rail union voted against a tentative contract deal reached in September, raising the possibility of a year-end strike that could cause significant damage to the U.S. economy and strand vital shipments of food and fuel. Train and engine service members of the transportation division of[...]
MacDon to make draper headers for Case IH, New Holland
Canadian harvest equipment maker MacDon Industries will make draper headers for Case IH Axial-Flow and New Holland combines for the major manufacturers to sell through their own dealer networks in the new year. Case IH and New Holland, both owned by CNH, said separately Thursday they have partnership agreements in place with Winnipeg-based MacDon to[...]
New B.C. youth work rules: Heavy lifting, ag chem handling out
"Light farm and yard work" are deemed appropriate for workers at ages 14 and 15 under new employment standards taking effect in British Columbia this fall. The province on Wednesday announced changes to its Employment Standards Act, which have been through the development and consultation stages since 2019, have now been finalized and will take[...]
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
