Agriculture Machinery & Farming Equipment

Grain equipment firm AGI buys into dryer market

By Country Guide Staff April 5, 2017

Reading Time: 2 minutes The Winnipeg parent firm for grain bin, auger and conveyor brands such as Westeel, Twister, Westfield, Wheatheart and Batco has bought its way into the grain dryer and stationary grain handling businesses. Ag Growth International (AGI) announced Tuesday it has bought up all shares in a Nebraska-based competitor, Global Industries, for US$100 million — a […] Read more

General, Machinery, Reuters

Ford recalls F-250s that could roll while in park

By Reuters April 1, 2017

Reading Time: < 1 minute New York | Reuters — Ford Motor Co. is recalling about 52,600 F-250 pickup trucks sold in the U.S. and Canada because the vehicles could roll after the driver moves the automatic transmission lever into park position, the company said on Saturday. The recall, the third announced by Ford this week, affects 2017 model year […] Read more

Crops, Machinery

Baltic Dry Index hits two-year highs

By Phil Franz-Warkentin March 28, 2017

Reading Time: < 1 minute CNS Canada — Ocean freight rates are trending higher, with the Baltic Dry Index (BDI) hitting its highest level of the past two years on Tuesday. The BDI, compiled daily by the London-based Baltic Exchange, provides an assessment of the price of moving major raw materials by sea, including grain. It was quoted Tuesday at […] Read more

The retro Versatile colours are attracting widespread notice, just as the company planned.

Machinery, Machinery Guide

The paint does matter

Versatile draws on inspiration from its past to position itself for future growth

By Scott Garvey March 27, 2017

Reading Time: 5 minutes It isn’t much of a surprise when Versatile shows up for the annual Manitoba Ag Days. The show, after all, is just two hours from the Versatile factory, so the company’s regular attendance is pretty much a given. Local farmers expect to see the brand put in an appearance there every year, and they’re never […] Read more

Jeff Leal, Ontario’s minister of agriculture, food and rural affairs (fourth from left), announced the new Greenhouse Competitiveness and Innovation Initiative at a greenhouse in Bowmanville, Ont. (Photo courtesy OMAFRA)

Crops, Fruit/Vegetables, Machinery

Ontario greenhouse growers get competitiveness fund

By John Greig March 24, 2017

Reading Time: < 1 minute The Ontario government is putting $19 million into a new initiative to support the competitiveness of the greenhouse sector in the province. Provincial Agriculture Minister Jeff Leal announced the funding on Thursday at Link Greenhouse near Bowmanville, just east of Oshawa. The Greenhouse Competitiveness and Innovation Initiative aims to provide funding for the creation of […] Read more

These combine harvesters are part of the fleet of farm equipment at Jianhu Lantian Agricultural Machinery Co-operative, established in 2007 near Yancheng in Jiangsu Province.

Guide Business, Machinery

China powers up

The world’s most populous country gets serious about farm machinery

By Lilian Schaer March 24, 2017

Reading Time: 6 minutes Like so much of China, the country’s agriculture is in a state of transition. While some sectors of the industry are barreling full speed into mechanization, with impressive rates of technology adoption to match the latest in global production standards, the road to modernizing agricultural production isn’t always a smooth one. China is the world’s […] Read more

Two new Can Am Defender Max models offer a rear bench seat, boosting capacity to up to six adults.

Machinery, Machinery Guide

Can Am’s new UTVs

The brand is following through on a commitment to add new machines to its product line twice a year

By Scott Garvey March 22, 2017

Reading Time: 3 minutes BRP, the company behind the Can Am line of products, has expanded the choice of Defender Max UTVs for 2017 with the addition of two new machines, bringing the total number of Max models to four. The company says the Defender Max UTVs are “pickup truck-inspired” and will now offer seating for up to six adults. […] Read more

General, Machinery

Saskatchewan cuts farm fuel tax exemptions in budget

By Country Guide Staff March 22, 2017

Reading Time: 4 minutes “Purple gas” is about to become a quaint old figure of speech for Saskatchewan farmers as the provincial tax exemption for bulk gasoline for farm use ends April 1. The provincial government on Wednesday rolled out a budget designed to dial back the province’s reliance on resource revenue in the face of slumping markets for […] Read more

Crops, Machinery, Markets

Diesel prices soften, but watching U.S. infrastructure plan

By Dave Sims March 21, 2017

Reading Time: 2 minutes CNS Canada — Sinking prices for crude oil and a softer Canadian dollar have kept diesel prices relatively low for Canadian farmers in 2017, and they could be heading lower, as long as U.S. President Donald Trump’s infrastructure plan doesn’t get in the way. “I would probably say in Canada you’re going to see numbers […] Read more

Crops, Hay, Machinery

Technology could open up hay export markets for Ontario

By John Greig March 21, 2017

Reading Time: 3 minutes An Ontario hay co-operative hopes to have a double-compaction facility running by 2018, giving it access to global markets for hay. Ontario hay has traditionally been at a shipping cost disadvantage compared to most competitors, as hay headed for Asia or the Middle East has had to be shipped by rail to the West Coast. […] Read more

Daily Network News

New strategies needed for Canadian agriculture to stand out in global trade

Feed Grains Weekly: Cash prices for wheat, barley largely flat

The Canadian GMO mustard wars: Dijon vs canola

Machinery