Reading Time: 2 minutes U.S. hay and forage equipment manufacturer Vermeer Corp. is expanding its reach in the cattle feeding business with a deal for fellow Iowa firm Schuler Manufacturing. Vermeer announced Wednesday it purchased Schuler for an undisclosed sum and that Schuler products will still “initially” be sold under the Schuler brand, but with an “intentional transition” to […] Read more

Vermeer buys TMR mixer maker Schuler

That’s progress: Event rebrands as ‘Canada’s Farm Show’
Reading Time: < 1 minute One of Canada’s biggest annual trade shows is downsizing its brand to three words for 2020. Regina Exhibition Association Ltd. (REAL) announced Monday that Canada’s Farm Progress Show, running June 16 to 18 next year at Regina’s Evraz Place, will now be titled Canada’s Farm Show, with a “new visual identity.” “With the increase of […] Read more

Pattison to shut one Saskatchewan Deere dealership
Reading Time: < 1 minute Pattison Agriculture’s chain of Deere ag equipment dealerships in Saskatchewan and Manitoba is preparing to cut one link. The Prairie farm equipment sales and service arm of B.C.’s Jim Pattison Group announced Tuesday on its website and social media it will permanently close its dealership at Foam Lake, Sask. effective Dec. 31. The Pattison store […] Read more

Ontario draws new legal lines against on-farm trespass
Reading Time: 2 minutes Ontario has introduced a legislative package setting up new legal boundaries around livestock in that province, whether on farms or in transit. The Security From Trespass and Protecting Food Safety Act, introduced Monday by Agriculture Minister Ernie Hardeman, is expected to “address the unique risks and challenges associated with trespass onto a farm or into […] Read more

Taking autonomy into the field
Finally, self-drive technology is moving onto real farms
Reading Time: 5 minutes If there was any doubt that how we farm is undergoing a foundational change, this should convince you that there is mammoth change on the horizon. In July the federal government pledged $49.5 million to the Alberta Innovates program to advance research and development in agricultural automation as part of the Canadian Agri-Food Automation and Intelligence Network (CAAIN). “The program,” said […] Read more

Grain groups seek ‘essential service’ status for rail
Reading Time: 3 minutes With Canadian National Railway’s conductors and yard workers headed back to work, several Canadian grain groups now want to head off any future job action in the rail sector. CN and the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference announced separately Tuesday they had reached a tentative agreement ending an eight-day strike by over 3,000 unionized staff. The […] Read more

Worker’s plea for rest spurs breakthrough in CN strike, union says
Reading Time: 2 minutes Montreal | Reuters — As Canada’s biggest rail strike in a decade dragged on with no resolution in sight, the recorded pleas of an exhausted rail worker who wanted a break after a 10-hour shift helped deliver a critical breakthrough, a union leader told Reuters on Tuesday. The audio recording, released on Monday by Teamsters […] Read more

CN, Teamsters reach deal to end strike
Reading Time: < 1 minute Montreal | Reuters — Teamsters Canada and Canadian National Railway on Tuesday said they reached a tentative deal to end a strike at the country’s largest railroad that had entered its eighth day, disrupting supply chains across the country. “We have a deal,” a CN spokesman said. The union said normal operations will resume on […] Read more

CN strike drags on, hitting grain exports, fertilizer output
Reading Time: 3 minutes Ottawa/Montreal | Reuters — A prolonged strike at Canadian National Railway, the country’s largest railroad, sent further shocks through the economy on Monday with grain shipments scuttled and layoffs planned at fertilizer producers and an auto shipment terminal. As Canada’s biggest rail strike in a decade entered its seventh day, industry kept pressuring the government […] Read more

Union says propane shortfalls may be CN’s own making
Reading Time: 2 minutes Propane shortages for grain dryers and heating fuel in the wake of a strike by Canadian National Railway (CN) conductors and yard workers appear to be “largely manufactured” by the railway, according to the union for the striking workers. The Teamsters Canada Rail Conference (TCRC-CTY), which represents over 3,000 CN staff in Canada who walked […] Read more