Reading Time: 4 minutes There’s no shortage of short-line ag implement manufacturers, and in almost any of them, the corporate executives will tell you they are now playing in a crowded marketplace. But the head of Germany-based Amazone is more bullish, saying his firm has the recipe for growth, and that he’ll be able to continue finding new markets […] Read more
Amazone sprayers go high tech
Is this the next brand you should look at in sprayers?
Ben Voss of Morris Industries
Learning to do your own laundry — and other stepping stones on the path to business leadership and success
Reading Time: 6 minutes Learning how to do your own laundry? Learning how to fail? They may sound like an odd combination and an even odder recipe for business leadership and success, but according to Ben Voss, shareholder and newly appointed president and CEO for Morris Industries Ltd., they’re essential for understanding how he got to where he is […] Read more
The 80 per cent solution
Automated equipment and big data will go a long way in agriculture, but not the whole way
Reading Time: 5 minutes At an official dinner prior to Agritechnica in Germany, I had the good fortune to be seated next to one of the conference’s guest speakers, Dr. Hans Griepentrog. He heads up the School of Agricultural Technology at Hohenheim University in Germany, and his vision of farming technology is definitely a futuristic one. Over dinner, I […] Read more
Farmer-made hay dryer boosts quality
Chinook bale dryer uses spikes to dry bales from the inside out
Reading Time: 3 minutes Chris Martin saw how hay bale dryers were working in Quebec and thought that the concept would work on his farm in Ontario. And he figured he and his brother could make one that worked even better. Three years later, they have their dryer working – but not perfected – and have sold one other […] Read more
Dawn of the ‘smart’ combine
Automated and self-adjusting threshing systems become the norm
Reading Time: 3 minutes Combine manufacturers have made giant strides toward machine automation. Yes, there still needs to be an operator in the cab (and we’re likely some distance away from changing that), but a growing number of today’s combines are making their own decisions about how to adjust their operations on the go for maximum threshing efficiency and […] Read more
New at the top
Here’s how Seed Hawk’s new Swedish CEO, Birgitta Ewerlöf, aims to capture corporate synergies and expand market share
Reading Time: 4 minutes [UPDATE: Nov. 29, 2017] Birgitta Ewerlöf was replaced as CEO of Seed Hawk by Nigel Jones as reported on Oct. 31, 2017. Farmers expected the change in paint colour, since the machines built under the Seed Hawk brand are being changed to match those marketed under parent company Väderstad’s brand. But we weren’t quite so […] Read more
Right from the farm
Farmer-owned Capricorn Bay bridges the planter-drill divide
Reading Time: 4 minutes The Prince family runs a large-scale family farm in southwestern Manitoba, where for years they have wished for a single, effective piece of seeding equipment that they could use for all of their crops. Now, they’ve turned that dream into a market-ready implement and a fledgling equipment brand. Their on-farm creation, the PPS planter, can […] Read more
Should you buy a combine, or stay with custom?
The decision depends on how much you lose to spoilage, so you need to think like a grocery store produce manager
Reading Time: 8 minutes Sue and Jim have increased their grain and oilseed operation to 4,500 acres. Until now they’ve hired a custom combine operator, but he’s retiring. Originally they had hired him as a means of economizing investment, but now they are more financially secure. They already have swathing and hauling equipment, and wonder if they should buy […] Read more
Rain means much of Ontario first cut hay is yet to be harvested
Forage quality declining with each passing day
Reading Time: 2 minutes Wet weather that has much of the Ontario first cut hay crop still standing in the field hasn’t yet changed the price for hay. Typically, the first cut hay harvest is mostly complete by the first of July, but regular rains in June this year have left hay in the field and declining in quality each […] Read more
Not just a driverless tractor, but no tractor at all
A global launch at Ag in Motion could change the way you farm
Reading Time: 4 minutes While farmers have been waiting impatiently for equipment designers to commercialize the driverless tractor, Prairie inventor and entrepreneur Norbert Beaujot has found a way to ditch the tractor altogether. And he’s rolling it out for the first time in July 18 to 20 at Ag in Motion (AIM), Western Canada’s outdoor farm show now in […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
