Reading Time: 5 minutes What a difference a year makes. The heady days of overfilled order books at ag equipment assembly plants have faded into history. By the end of September, the Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM) was reporting year-to-date sales of four-wheel-drive tractors in Canada were down by 19.8 per cent. Combine sales had slumped even further, dipping […] Read more
It won’t be easy being green — or red, or blue
Tough decisions lie ahead, with all the major brands needing to throttle back production but still keep up with changing market demand
Machinery Guide: Compact and utility tractors
Don't be fooled by appearances when it comes to performance
Reading Time: 3 minutes The word “small” can be very misleading, especially when it comes to farm tractors, so shift your thinking with a look at today’s compact and utility tractors. We’re hoping you’ll see that when it comes to performance, you can’t let yourself be fooled by appearances. These five manufacturers are touting designs and specifications that have […] Read more
Small tractors nimble, but no shortage of power
Machinery Guide: John Deere 6R, Challenger MT500E, Massey Ferguson 7700, and Fendt 700 Series
Reading Time: 3 minutes The fall of 2014 will be remembered for all the improvements that manufacturers are making in small commercial tractors in the 120- to 220-horsepower class. Despite the trend towards “bigger, wider and more powerful,” these tractors are showing they can compete based on nimbleness, adaptability and durability. Below, we feature offerings from four different manufacturers, […] Read more
Meeting the customer’s need for farm equipment
New Holland veers away from corporate mega-dealers
Reading Time: 6 minutes When New Holland vice-president Abe Hughes spoke to a room full of farm media at the company’s North American headquarters in Pennsylvania in July, he wanted to talk about more than the shiny new iron parked outside. It was important, of course, to highlight the innovation in the brand’s 2015 equipment introductions, but Hughes also had […] Read more
The big boys on the block
Machinery Guide: The powerful, high-powered tractor market has several new entries
Reading Time: 3 minutes The high-powered parade in tractor technology continues. With each year, more manufacturers are rolling out more entries for this growing tractor segment. These machines are bigger and more powerful, and they are more capable than ever before. They work larger tracts of land, haul heavier loads and deliver on a longer list of heavy- weight […] Read more
Four middle-range tractors to get the job done
John Deere 7R, Massey Ferguson 8700, Fendt 800 and 900, and Case IH Puma series models
Reading Time: 3 minutes In an era when everything seems to be getting bigger, equipment manufacturers are investing heavily in updating and upgrading the middle of the pack. These are tractors in the 220- to 325-horsepower category, which means they’re big enough to haul and to load, and to dig into most of the toughest jobs on the farm, […] Read more
CAN bus at your control
CAN bus technology is hardly new, but now it’s being perfected in farm machinery, opening up a world of great opportunities
Reading Time: 5 minutes In precision agriculture, there can be a steep learning curve with the newest systems on the market. Planter clutches and variable-rate fertilizer systems have their intricacies, for instance, and it can take growers years to customize key components to fit their particular operations. Now, however, there may be help, based on a connectivity technology that […] Read more
Return of the czars
Will the Putin effect hurt global ag equipment manufacturing?
Reading Time: 5 minutes Samuel Allen was blunt. “Today’s world is filled with uncertainty — fiscal, economic, and political uncertainty — that breeds extreme caution, disrupts thoughtful planning, and is generally bad for business,” the John Deere chairman and CEO wrote in the company’s 2013 annual report. Those words from December of last year now seem profoundly prophetic, given […] Read more
What a farmer wants
Your ideal tractor is getting more and more unlike the one your neighbour would like to buy
Reading Time: 5 minutes Understanding what your customers want is one of the basic musts for staying in business — any business. Now, it’s also something equipment manufacturers need to keep in mind more than ever, because a new study shows a widening gap between what different producer groups want and expect from their machinery. A 2014 survey conducted […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
