hanson acres

Hanson Acres: Trucking north, into the snow

It began to feel like it was the first time Dale had ever clocked such lonesome miles

Reading Time: 5 minutes By mid-morning on Monday, Dale was taking full advantage of his first day in the house alone. While his wife Donna was off in Fernie for a week of skiing with a group of her women friends, Dale was sprawled out in the living room, snacking on taco chips, watching an “Ice Road Truckers” marathon […] Read more

Fertilizer spreader manufacturer Rauch invited an international group of journalists to tour its production facility in Germany.

Here’s how German machinery company Rauch is winning

Moving onto a former Canadian military base in Germany is only one in a series of smart decisions by this machinery shortliner

Reading Time: 7 minutes It was to be our second stop that day on a week-long media tour that was winding its way through Germany. We were visiting a long list of German machinery manufacturers, and it was dark when we pulled up to fertilizer spreader manufacturer Rauch’s assembly plant adjacent to the Baden airport. It was clear the […] Read more


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

hanson acres

Hanson Acres: What’s up with that darn cat?

On the farm, small problems have their own way of getting big

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


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


hanson acres

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

Man at work on laptop lying in grassy field.

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 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

hanson acres

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