
Toromont to sell Manitoba Agco, Claas dealer chain
Dutch firm to buy AgWest
Reading Time: 2 minutes Canada’s Caterpillar equipment distributor for Manitoba and points east is set to sell a major Manitoba dealer of Agco’s farm equipment brands as well as the province’s exclusive dealer for Claas combines. Toromont Industries announced Monday it will sell its AgWest Ltd. arm to Dutch equipment distributor Mechan International, effective May 1. Neither company would […] Read more

Colorado passes first U.S. right-to-repair legislation for farmers
Manufacturers fear safety, emissions systems could be overridden
Reading Time: 2 minutes Reuters — Colorado farmers will be able to legally fix their own equipment next year, with manufacturers such as Deere and Co. obliged to provide them with manuals for diagnostic software and other aids, under a measure passed by legislators in the first U.S. state to approve such a law. The Consumer Right to Repair […] Read more

CNH shows off its new farm tech
Technology day event gives a glimpse of what’s to come from its brands
Reading Time: 6 minutes We are in a difficult world,” said Scott Wine, CEO of CNH Industrial, as he took the stage to welcome a group of journalists to the company’s Technology Day near Phoenix, Arizona, last fall. “It’s brutal out there.” He was referring to a number of pressures manufacturers are feeling from global concerns affecting all brands […] Read more

GM buyouts cut 5,000 jobs, CFO says
Not much more room seen to raise prices
Reading Time: 2 minutes Reuters — About 5,000 General Motors salaried workers took buyouts to leave the company, putting the company well on the way to hitting a US$2 billion cost-cutting target, the automaker’s chief financial officer said Tuesday. GM shares were trading down nearly two per cent at midday, even though CFO Paul Jacobson said demand for GM’s […] Read more

International farmers may ease Canadian human capital crunch
A global retirement crunch is coming and Canada is ill prepared, report says
Reading Time: 3 minutes As other nations reduce their agricultural footprints in an effort to boost sustainability, their loss could be Canada’s human capital gain, a new report suggests. “The immigration of scientists, data engineers, and entrepreneurs has been recognized as critical to Canada’s growth. A similar approach needs to be adopted to attract farmers,” the authors wrote. The […] Read more

CNH to buy Outback Guidance’s parent firm
Case IH, New Holland maker to pay US$175 million for Hemisphere
Reading Time: 2 minutes CNH Industrial, parent of the Case IH. New Holland, Steyr and Flexi-Coil farm equipment brands, has signed a cash deal to buy satellite positioning tech firm Hemisphere GNSS, parent of the Outback Guidance aftermarket GPS, precision ag and autosteer business. CNH announced Thursday it will pay $175 million for Hemisphere, which has been owned since […] Read more

Ford hikes electric F-150’s price again to battle high costs
Reading Time: < 1 minute Reuters — Ford Motor Co. has raised the base price of its popular F-150 Lightning electric pickup truck again, the automaker’s website showed on Thursday, the latest in a series of price hikes aimed at offsetting high costs. The base variant of Ford’s electric F-150 truck now starts at $59,974, excluding shipping and taxes, up […] Read more

Carbon price exemption for farm gas clears Commons
Bill C-234 next headed to Senate
Reading Time: 3 minutes Legislative amendments that would exempt farmers’ eligible purchases of natural gas and propane from federal carbon pricing are now en route to Canada’s Senate. Bill C-234, a private member’s bill sponsored by Ben Lobb, the Conservative MP for the southern Ontario riding of Huron-Bruce, passed third reading for adoption in the House of Commons on […] Read more

Putting autonomous machinery to the test
Saskatchewan farmers get a chance for a season with an autonomous fertilizer spreader
Reading Time: 5 minutes 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 […] Read more

CN, mechanics avert strike with tentative deal
Ratification votes pending
Reading Time: 2 minutes Canadian National Railway and the union representing its mechanics and intermodal and clerical workers have reached a tentative labour deal, averting a potential strike. CN, Unifor Local 100 and Unifor Council 4000 on Monday announced they have reached four new tentative collective agreements to cover about 3,000 railway employees, who had voted earlier this month […] Read more