Reading Time: 3 minutes Whether Canadian farmers can continue to pick up machinery parts and other products for their operations in the United States is at the discretion of U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers. At 11:59 p.m. ET Friday, Canada and the U.S. temporarily restricted non-essential travel between the two nations to try and slow the spread of […] Read more
‘Essential’ travel rule fuzzy on farmers picking up parts, inputs
U.S. border officers will have final say on Canadian farmers' cross-border business trips
Machinery costs driving up fixed farming expenses
Reading Time: < 1 minute MarketsFarm — Fixed costs on farms continue to rise year-over-year, a statistic largely attributed to increasing land values and interest rates. At the beginning of 2019, Farm Credit Canada (FCC) reported farmland values across Canada increased by an average of 6.6 per cent during the previous year. But that’s not the main driver of fixed […] Read more
Deere bets on cost cuts, services push to boost profits
Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — Deere and Co. on Wednesday said it will cut costs and ramp up investment in data-driven agriculture technology and its services business to make itself more profitable. In a pitch to investors, CEO John May said the measures are expected to boost operating profit margin to 15 per cent by 2022 […] Read more
CNH Industrial cuts revenue guidance for second time
Company sticks to earnings per share forecast
Reading Time: < 1 minute Milan | Reuters – Italian-American machinery maker CNH Industrial trimmed its forecast for full-year revenue for a second time this year after lower sales volumes and exchange rate factors weighed on results in the third quarter. CNH Industrial, which makes most of its profit from farming machinery, Iveco commercial vehicles, construction equipment and powertrains, said net sales of […] Read more
Ag sector growth will take investments in skills, tech now: RBC
Reading Time: 4 minutes One of Canada’s big six banks bets the agriculture sector’s gross domestic product could rise by nearly 60 per cent over the next decade if it were to have enough people, capital and access to new technology where ag lives. A report released by RBC on Tuesday titled “Farmer 4.0” estimates Canadian ag GDP could […] Read more
One line, two brands?
Kubota and Versatile partner up to build a tractor
Reading Time: 3 minutes It’s been no secret that Winnipeg-based Versatile has had a new tractor line in development for the past several years. But maybe there’s more you need to know. Versatile has long been thought of as a producer of high-horsepower tractors. Historically, though, it has had a presence in a lower horsepower class with production of […] Read more
Brand loyalty cuts deeper
Farmers tell manufacturers how and why they buy new equipment
Reading Time: 5 minutes When a few hundred staff and executives from the Canadian equipment brands that belong to AMC, the Agricultural Manufacturers of Canada, gathered for their 48th annual convention in Winnipeg in December, they used the opportunity to find out a bit more about their customers. AMC organizers had invited producers from different segments of the farming […] Read more
Practical data
Brands look to break down the barriers that prevent farmers from integrating big data across lines
Reading Time: 2 minutes When telematics and digital data gathering technologies began appearing as options on major brand equipment a decade or so ago, it was a world full of boundaries — between those digital program offerings, that is. Some brands decided early on to go down the path of proprietary systems. Buy a green tractor, pair it with […] Read more
Feeling the heat
Manufacturers and dealers grapple with potential “right to repair” legislation
Reading Time: 5 minutes It has to rank right up there as one of the most hotly debated topics in the farm machinery industry, and it has become known by the catch phrase “Right to Repair.” John Deere was (and arguably still is) the primary focus of fury, with many both inside and outside the ag sector railing against […] Read more
Is there a ‘best’ farm machinery strategy?
AME management: There is never a guarantee that, without the analysis, the right strategy can be forecast
Reading Time: 4 minutes Country Guide’s editor asked whether we see a trend in the machinery strategy of the farmers who take CTEAM, our management course. Behind this is the idea that their experiences may be of value to others. The reality is that many strategies exist, ranging from turning over the complement of equipment every year, to squeezing […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
