Reading Time: 5 minutes This fall at the annual Bauma construction machinery show in Munich, Germany, Volvo Penta, a longtime engine supplier to the industrial and marine industries, unveiled its new eight-litre, dual-fuel hydrogen engine. The company claims the use of renewable hydrogen as a fuel means its new engine will reduce CO2 emissions by up to 80 per […] Read more
The energy transition for tractors has already begun
Hydrogen is emerging as a potential diesel fuel replacement
Should we pay more attention to European tractor competitions?
Comparing apples to apples with North American machinery brands
Reading Time: 5 minutes Here in North America, many producers have a favourite farm machinery brand and wouldn’t think of buying anything else. Often there may be some practical reasons behind that choice. Parts and service availability, proximity to a dealer or maintaining a relationship with a dealer can pay dividends. But those factors can sometimes result in producers […] Read more
Manufacturers brace for a changing climate
Machinery brands prepare for a future of uncertainty due to global warming
Reading Time: 5 minutes The images in early October were stunning. Hurricane Fiona had sent a record-breaking ocean storm surge against Newfoundland coastal communities, leaving death and devastation in its wake. It’s the kind of event climate scientists have warned would occur more frequently due to global warming. At the same time, across the globe record flooding was wreaking […] Read more
Virtual testing for real world conditions
Manufacturers turn to computer technology to validate new machine designs
Reading Time: 6 minutes A few years ago I was interviewing a retired engineer who had worked at Massey Ferguson. We were talking about his involvement in testing prototypes, and he recalled how a group of employees would have to take shifts running newly designed machines over the “bump track” behind the engineering centre. That was a track with […] Read more
Strip till catching on
Residue management and improved soil health are among the benefits
Reading Time: 4 minutes In theory, strip till should boost yields, especially in corn, where the practice is most usually used. Clearing residue from a seed zone and berming the soil so it warms faster in preparation for spring planting sounds like an obvious benefit. More equipment manufacturers have adapted systems to enable “multitasking” such as combining strip till […] Read more
More satellite imagery options for crops
A rapid increase in resellers is reshaping imagery demand and usability
Reading Time: 4 minutes There are so many satellites up there these days that astronomers worry that they will block their view. And while some of these satellites can offer a new level of vegetation and crop image analysis, the uptake has been a bit slow so far. Where there has been significant growth — and perhaps a window […] Read more
Tackling a core problem of grain storage
One retailer says the practice could be helpful for preventing plugs when unloading
Reading Time: 4 minutes Coring grain bins, a common practice in the U.S. corn and soybean area, is also being tried by some Canadian growers as part of their grain storage strategy. Coring involves removing grain from the centre of the bin after the initial fill, which removes the fines that accumulate within the centre during loading. Some say […] Read more
Another digital option for farmers
Precision Farming: Corteva’s Granular Insights platform can implement data as far back as 2016
Reading Time: 3 minutes There’s yet another option in the growing list of options for precision farming software. Introduced in 2019, Corteva’s Granular Insights is billed as a platform to help growers scout their fields and find in-season problems faster. It has expanded since and can now upload planting and harvest data, use satellite and aerial imagery and provide […] Read more
Precision ag needs and wants
Precision Farming: The technology is out there, but should you make the decision to give it a try?
Reading Time: 5 minutes You could say that most farmers are already sold on the benefits of precision agriculture — depending on how you define the term, and how many of the benefits are wants versus needs. “Farmers do things along a spectrum,” says Marvin Talsma, product marketing manager for Climate FieldView, Bayer CropScience’s precision agriculture data platform. “There […] Read more
Sprayer designs save the day
Chemical application is under the microscope, and farmers around the world face future limitations on inputs, especially herbicides
Reading Time: 5 minutes “Welcome to the new world of spraying,” quipped Roeland Coopman, chief commercial officer at Agrifac, a European-based sprayer manufacturer, as he made a presentation during a recent online media conference streamed live from Paris, France. Those words are no exaggeration. How chemicals are applied on farm fields in developed countries across the planet is poised […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
