Reading Time: 6 minutes It’s an impressive resumé, showing how Joerg Zimmermann’s work and his research, plus his strong entrepreneur/farmer streak, have taken him to most of the main grain-growing regions of the world, including in Canada. It’s a series of experiences that have given Zimmermann a unique perspective about what farming looks like in the world’s breadbaskets. And […] Read more
Compete and win
Your machinery strategy may be nothing less than the factor deciding how long you’ll be in the world of agricuture
Ontario power utilities offer farm water pump rebate
Reading Time: 2 minutes Ontario farmers buying certain types of high-efficiency water pumping systems for irrigation, horticulture or stock watering could now be up for rebates. Hydro One and Niagara Peninsula Energy (NPEI) on Friday announced the AgriPump rebate program, which the two electricity utilities described as the first plan of its kind in the province. For farmer customers […] Read more
‘Clean’ tech adoption up for federal funding
Reading Time: 2 minutes Provinces and territories can apply starting April 1 for chunks of a three-year, $25 million federal fund to support programs that encourage on-farm adoption of precision ag tools or use of renewables from ag waste. Federal Agriculture Minister Lawrence MacAulay on Monday launched the fund, to flow through what’s dubbed the Agricultural Clean Technology (ACT) […] Read more
Deere fears hit from Trump tariffs, retaliation
Reading Time: 2 minutes Granadero Baigorria, Argentina | Reuters — U.S. tractor maker Deere and Co. is bracing for a negative financial impact from U.S. tariffs on steel imports and worries that retaliatory tariffs on American agricultural exports could follow, CEO Samuel Allen told Reuters in an interview Wednesday. The 25 per cent tariffs, which U.S. President Donald Trump […] Read more
Trudeau optimistic on NAFTA as deal on autos seen possible
Reading Time: 2 minutes Ottawa | Reuters — Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Wednesday for the first time that a deal to renegotiate NAFTA was likely, amid signs negotiators may be closer to settling one of the regional trade pact’s most contentious issues. “We remain very confident that a win-win-win deal is not only possible, but likely,” Trudeau […] Read more
Farm equipment sales evolve for 2018
Rocky Mountain Equipment exec Jim Wood talks about Canadian ag machinery sales trends
Reading Time: 4 minutes As U.S. and Canadian farm equipment dealerships wrestled with their hangover from the half-decade of hyper sales activity that ended a couple of years ago, the job of finding new homes for a large number of used machines may have been their biggest problem. For the most part, that trouble has now faded from view, […] Read more
Brazil cracking down on unmonitored agriculture planes
Reading Time: 2 minutes Sao Paulo | Reuters — Brazilian federal prosecutors have demanded civil aviation authorities change regulations to increase oversight of agriculture airplanes such as crop dusters, which they claim can be used to smuggle drugs and agro-chemicals. Prosecutors are calling for the mandatory introduction of a transponder equipment to monitor such planes, and have suggested new […] Read more
U.S. rail regulator tackles railroads over customer complaints
Reading Time: 2 minutes Reuters — The top U.S. rail regulator has asked major railroads for information on service levels before meeting disgruntled shippers and other customers over complaints about service delays and higher costs. In letters to the CEOs of the railroads, dated Friday and posted Monday on the U.S. Surface Transportation Board’s (STB) website, the regulator requested […] Read more
Get grain moving again, KAP says
Reading Time: 3 minutes Move western grain, ASAP. That’s the blunt and urgent message Keystone Agricultural Producers (KAP) president Dan Mazier told an emergency meeting of the House of Commons’ agriculture committee Monday in Ottawa. The 2013-14 grain shipping backlog cost Western farmers around $6.5 billion and the current one will cost billions again, Mazier said. The first step […] Read more
Industry still looking for new NH3 tank rule break
Reading Time: 2 minutes Fertilizer Canada and the Canadian Association of Agri-Retailers (CAAR) say there will be enough anhydrous ammonia nurse tanks available to supply the fertilizer to farmers during this growing season. New Transport Canada regulations came into force Jan. 12, which affect the frequency of hydrostatic testing and visual inspection of ammonia nurse and applicator tanks and […] Read more