The Multibaler can be used in the field directly behind a forage harvester or stationary in the farmyard to form and wrap silage into bales.

More forage machinery options for producers

These new concept machines will mean more harvesting choices for forage growers

Reading Time: 3 minutes The giant German farm machinery expo Agritechnica is a glimpse into the future, giving farmers a look at the equipment they’ll be filling their machinery sheds with in coming years. That includes forage growers. If the machines on display this past November are any indication, they can expect a tidal wave of innovations. Krone’s Premos […] Read more

China’s Zoomlion brand had a large display at Agritechnica in Germany in November. The company is hoping to expand into new world markets.

Make room. There’s another farm equipment manufacturer in town

Is there really enough market for two more full-line farm equipment manufacturers?

Reading Time: 6 minutes In a second floor conference room at the Hanover fairgrounds in Germany during the Agritechnica machinery expo in November, a panel of experts got together to present their individual views on the present and future of the agricultural machinery market around the globe. Despite the fact world demand for new machinery has slowed significantly, optimism […] Read more


An onboard computer can receive instructions from a GPS map or the tractor can be driven around a field boundary and told to plan its own job route.

The first true robot tractor

Machinery Guide: The Greenbot autonomous tractor hits the market

Reading Time: 3 minutes Complete automation may well be the dominant focus of ag machinery design in the coming decades. We’ve already seen various levels of robotics introduced into conventional equipment, and a few limited-use autonomous machines have appeared. But no company has yet been willing to offer fully autonomous, market-ready tractors for general field duties — until now. […] Read more

The contenders in the half-ton category for this year’s Canadian Truck King Challenge.

The Canadian Truck King Challenge

What it’s like to judge the 2016 pickup trucks

Reading Time: 3 minutes It doesn’t matter which brand we’re talking about, when you watch the many television commercials advertising their newest pickup trucks, you’re bound to hear the “best-in-class” phrase for some feature or another. It’s the kind of one-upmanship marketers love to cash in on. In real life, though, do any of those claims carry the weight […] Read more


(l to r) Tom Carroll, inventor of the self-propelled combine, A.A. Thornbrough, president of MF and Mitchell Sharpe minister of trade and commerce unveil a plaque commemorating 20 years of free trade in farm equipment at the grand opening of Massey Ferguson’s new combine plant in Brantford, Ont., in 1964.

How “free” is the free trade in agricultural equipment?

Canadian farm equipment manufacturing got a boost from free trade in 1944. What can we expect from today’s trade agreements?

Reading Time: 6 minutes 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. […] Read more

New Holland’s two new T7 Heavy Duty models are the brand’s offering in the compact, mid-range tractor segment.

More compact mid-range tractors

Machinery Guide: CNH introduces two high-horsepower, small-chassis models

Reading Time: 4 minutes In my last article, Machinery Guide took a look at AGCO’s newest Fendt tractor, the compact 500 Series. It fits into a relatively new tractor market segment that offers higher horsepower in a compact package. This year CNH also threw its hat into that big-power, small-chassis ring with the introduction of two new models in both […] Read more


When this 516 Vario drove out the factory door behind it, it signalled the introduction of the 500 Vario Series in Europe. The Canada and U.S. launch had to wait until the tractors underwent a homologation process to meet North American engineering standards.

Fendt 500 Vario tractors finally arrive in Canada

These long-awaited compact models are meant to appeal to mixed farming operations

Reading Time: 3 minutes It was September 27, 2012, in Marktoberdorf, Germany when executives at AGCO’s Fendt brand gave the world its first official look at their all-new tractor series, the 500 Vario, which offered bigger-than-expected horsepower crammed into a small chassis. During the official launch ceremony a band played as the door at the end of the factory […] Read more

“In the East, we’ll still see some hay and dairy applications, and more tillage, more so than in the West.” – David Webster, Kubota Canada Ltd.

Highlights of Canada’s Outdoor Farm Show 2015

Old favourites were aplenty but some of the new demanded more attention

Reading Time: 6 minutes Canada’s Outdoor Farm Show makes us expect to see “something new.” Everything from multi-hybrid planters to robotic milkers and the latest in all-terrain vehicles have made their debuts at the Woodstock, Ont. show. This year’s 22nd annual edition was no exception. Below, we discuss some of the launches and announcements that caught our attention. First, […] Read more


John Deere’s long-awaited four-track tractors were finally introduced to farmers in August.

John Deere lays down some new tracks

Machinery Guide: The four-track John Deere 9RX tractor makes its official debut

Reading Time: 3 minutes At a dealer convention way back in August of 2014, John Deere gave farm media a glimpse of what was then its pre-production prototype 9RX tractor, a 9R Series articulated model that rode on four tracks instead of tires. It made me ask, why break with standard practice? Why reveal a machine not yet ready […] Read more

Digital pursuits in the world of agricultural technology

Digital pursuits in the world of agricultural technology

The list of tools to collect, manage and transfer farm data is growing. Here’s a look at some of the recent additions

Reading Time: 4 minutes Lehmann If your focus is on gathering more data rather than managing it, drone technology may be for you, and a new contender has recently stepped up with a high-tech offering. France’s Lehmann Aviation made a move to break into the North American data-gathering market this spring with the launch of what it calls “an […] Read more