Reading Time: 5 minutes Some days it was hard to tell if Buddy, the Hanson’s collie, had amazing herding instincts, or if he was just a jerk. When he spotted Buddy nipping at a cat in the middle of the yard, Dale’s first instinct was to give the dog a cuff. “Cut that out, Buddy! You’re six times the […] Read more
Hanson Acres: What’s up with that darn cat?
On the farm, small problems have their own way of getting big
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
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
Hanson Acres: Time to check that forecast
Will Trina make the eight-hour drive to the farm?
Reading Time: 5 minutes Trina Hanson was taking a break in her Calgary office, checking the weather on her phone. “Great,” she thought. “Minus 30 and drifting snow for Friday.” It was only Tuesday, but Trina was already dreading the eight-hour drive home to the farm for the weekend. She’d been making the trip from Alberta to southeast Saskatchewan […] Read more
Big data in Canadian agriculture? Not yet
Precision agriculture proponents are convinced that the technology will pay off, but that data collection needs to be standardized and not require farmers’ time during the busy seasons
Reading Time: 6 minutes Watching over the fencerow to see how the neighbour is growing that nice crop is a long tradition in farming. Are we heading into an era where you can look over the digital fencerow to look at the neighbour’s data on nutrient placement, seeding rates, variety selection and combine speed? Increasingly each piece of equipment […] Read more
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
Hanson Acres: Time to ask the big question
‘Women are different,’ Ed said. ‘Watch out.’
Reading Time: 4 minutes Dale figured he was off the hook when he told Donna to go ahead and hire a cleaning lady. She’d been defensive. “Norma’s got someone coming out to her place,” she’d explained. “So we can split the travel costs if I hire her too.” Dale had never been against the idea, but Donna worked hard […] Read more
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
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
Hanson Acres: Hmmm…what’s that under the Christmas tree?
Jeff thinks he knows. So does his Dad, and everyone else
Reading Time: 4 minutes Daddy! Which ones are mine?” Four-year-old Connor was jumping up and down in front of his grandparents’ Christmas tree. He grabbed a box wrapped in glittering Rudolf paper and held it up. “This one?” Jeff read the tag. “This one’s for me. Let’s keep looking.” Jeff picked up a large snowman gift bag with Connor’s […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
