Reading Time: 6 minutes An unusual thing happened in the automotive industry during the last couple of years. Or, rather, two things happened. Overall, sales of cars and light trucks fell pretty significantly. Yet corporate profits went up anyway. In fact, they soared. How? Well, to find out, just walk through any dealership lot and look at what all […] Read more
More features = more of your money
How you pay for your next new machine and get to use all the advanced features built into it is set to change dramatically
If you can’t spray ’em… terminate them
Crushing weed seeds as they go through the combine is another option
Reading Time: 5 minutes Maybe they can resist chemicals, but they can’t resist being crushed — or at least not yet. Harvest weed seed control is the latest development in the battle against weeds, with early adapters working with different designs and seeing success. The concept employs seed mills attached to the rear of the combine, gathering weed seeds […] Read more
The energy transition for tractors has already begun
Hydrogen is emerging as a potential diesel fuel replacement
Reading Time: 5 minutes This fall at the annual Bauma construction machinery show in Munich, Germany, Volvo Penta, a longtime engine supplier to the industrial and marine industries, unveiled its new eight-litre, dual-fuel hydrogen engine. The company claims the use of renewable hydrogen as a fuel means its new engine will reduce CO2 emissions by up to 80 per […] Read more
Should we pay more attention to European tractor competitions?
Comparing apples to apples with North American machinery brands
Reading Time: 5 minutes Here in North America, many producers have a favourite farm machinery brand and wouldn’t think of buying anything else. Often there may be some practical reasons behind that choice. Parts and service availability, proximity to a dealer or maintaining a relationship with a dealer can pay dividends. But those factors can sometimes result in producers […] Read more
Manufacturers brace for a changing climate
Machinery brands prepare for a future of uncertainty due to global warming
Reading Time: 5 minutes The images in early October were stunning. Hurricane Fiona had sent a record-breaking ocean storm surge against Newfoundland coastal communities, leaving death and devastation in its wake. It’s the kind of event climate scientists have warned would occur more frequently due to global warming. At the same time, across the globe record flooding was wreaking […] Read more
Virtual testing for real world conditions
Manufacturers turn to computer technology to validate new machine designs
Reading Time: 6 minutes A few years ago I was interviewing a retired engineer who had worked at Massey Ferguson. We were talking about his involvement in testing prototypes, and he recalled how a group of employees would have to take shifts running newly designed machines over the “bump track” behind the engineering centre. That was a track with […] Read more
The diversity gap
The slow progress by equipment manufacturers on racial and ethnic diversity is in marked contrast to their success with women
Reading Time: 6 minutes Canada’s population is becoming increasingly diverse. Statistics Canada estimates that immigrants made up roughly 22 per cent of the population in 2016, and our country expects to welcome over 400,000 more per year until 2024. This will almost certainly result in a continually growing percentage of visible minorities among Canada’s working age people over the […] Read more
Deere & Co mower production to move from Iowa to Mexico plant
Reading Time: < 1 minute Mexico City | Reuters – U.S. farm equipment maker Deere & Co DE.N will be moving production of mower conditioners, which are tractor attachments with rolling discs to cut and crush hay, from a factory in Ottumwa, Iowa, to an existing plant in Mexico over the next 18 months, the company said. The company told Reuters late […] Read more
CNH revs up its strategic plan
CNH Industrial’s new CEO sets a direction he thinks farmers will want to buy into
Reading Time: 6 minutes When a new executive takes over a major corporation, it’s no surprise that a new strategic plan gets announced within a few months. The plan becomes a road map of sorts, revealing the new boss’s objectives and vision for the future. A new broom sweeps clean, as the old proverb says, and it’s what these […] Read more
A glimpse into the past: How we got to the modern combine
Want to see how much change has come to farming in your parents’ lifetime? Just look at how they get the harvest in
Reading Time: 6 minutes A few years ago I was at John Deere World Headquarters in Illinois for the official unveiling of the brand’s S Series combines. To put some perspective on how big a deal this was, Deere’s marketing team guided us to the building’s large auditorium. There, they put their spotlights on a gleaming, impressive new S9, […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
