Parts are already in short supply in Ukraine, and farmers are stockpiling and lending and borrowing amongst themselves. (Ihor Pavliuk photo)

Farming behind the lines in Ukraine

A Ukrainian agriculture journalist chronicles the challenges of sowing a crop during wartime

Reading Time: 5 minutes Ukrainians will farm their land, even in the face of war. In the Kherson area of southern Ukraine, where war rages and the city of Kherson is seen by the Russian invaders as strategic, a column set out on Monday. This was a column of tractors, under the flag of Ukraine. In it were farmers […] Read more


File photo of Highway 363 near Moose Jaw, Sask. (Mysticenergy/iStock/Getty Images)

Spring road bans coming into effect across Prairies

Reading Time: < 1 minute MarketsFarm — Warming temperatures and melting snow across Western Canada may cause some disruptions to grain and livestock movement over the next few weeks as seasonal spring road restrictions come into effect across the Prairies. Annual spring road restrictions set axle weight limits for vehicles moving on certain roads, in an effort to reduce the […] Read more

The used equipment market has seen “unprecedented” price increases and demand, especially for four-wheel drive tractors.

Used farm equipment sees big demand

There’s something very new — and unsettling — about this year’s used equipment market

Reading Time: 7 minutes This year, any farmer expecting a new tractor in time for spring seeding knows they shouldn’t hold their breath.  It may or may not arrive on time. Problems including staff shortages, transportation bottlenecks, a shortage of components — all a result of COVID-19 in one way or another — have hit ag equipment manufacturers simultaneously […] Read more


(File photo by Dave Bedard)

CP conductors vote in favour of mid-March strike action

Reading Time: 3 minutes Unionized conductors and train and yard service staff with Canadian Pacific Railway (CP) have voted in favour of strike action which could begin as early as March 16. The Teamsters Canadian Rail Conference – Conductors, Trainpersons and Yardpersons (TCRC-CTY) announced Monday that a strike vote it conducted through February went 96.7 per cent in favour […] Read more

Adam Reid. (Photo courtesy Buhler Versatile)

Ag equipment firm Buhler Industries shakes up board table

Rostselmash's Babkin steps down, founder Buhler to retire

Reading Time: 2 minutes Board oversight of Winnipeg farm equipment manufacturer Buhler Industries will now include another of the company’s upper managers, as a co-owner of the company’s Russian parent firm and the company’s founder both step down. Buhler’s board announced Wednesday it has accepted the resignation of Konstantin Babkin, the president and co-owner of Russian holding company Novoe […] Read more


(Cummins.com)

Engine maker Cummins says expects ‘some impact’ in Russia

Deere says will abide by sanctions

Reading Time: < 1 minute Reuters — Diesel engine maker Cummins Inc. expects “some impact” to its business in Russia and is analyzing and preparing for current and anticipated sanctions, the U.S. truck engine maker said in an e-mailed statement on Monday. Many firms have idled operations in Russia after it invaded Ukraine last week, resulting in powerful Western sanctions. […] Read more

Buhler Industries board member Konstantin Babkin, shown here at left with the company’s then-president Dmitry Lyubimov during a visit to the company’s facility in Winnipeg in 2007, is seen as particularly vulnerable to sanction from Canada. (File photo by Dave Bedard)

Equipment maker Buhler distances self from Ukraine invasion

Reading Time: 2 minutes A Winnipeg farm equipment manufacturer is distancing itself from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Buhler Industries, which manufactures the Versatile tractor line and Farm King equipment, is majority-owned by the Russian firm Combine Factory Rostselmash. That firm purchased an 80 per cent stake in Buhler in 2007 and boosted that to 97 per cent ownership in […] Read more


A CNH manufacturing plant at Sorocaba, west of Sao Paulo in southeastern Brazil. (Photo courtesy CNH Industrial)

CNH sees revenues rising to 2024 on precision agriculture plans

Margin at agricultural unit seen at 14.5 to 15.5 per cent

Reading Time: 2 minutes Milan | Reuters — Italian-American vehicle maker CNH Industrial on Tuesday gave guidance for a total revenue growth of up to 24 per cent through 2024 as it presented a new business plan after spinning off its truck, bus and engine units. In a bid to focus on its higher-margin agriculture and construction machine businesses, […] Read more