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Future Of Tractor Power: Diesel-Electric Hybrids

Farm equipment manufacturers continue to look at electricity as a way to power tractors and other farm vehicles. These diesel-electric hybrids still use the traditional diesel engine to generate power. But electric motors work in place of a standard transmission to transfer power to the ground.

Marlin Onnen with the John Deere Product Engineering Center and author of the article "Coming soon: Electric tractors" published in Resource magazine, cites four state-of-the-art electrified platforms being used today. These include the John Deere 7030 Series E-Premium tractors, the AGCO RoGator E sprayer, the Belarus Tractor International 3023 tractor, and the Rauch EDR fertilizer spreader. Preliminary testing of the vehicles has shown a fuel savings as high as 25% over traditional diesel-powered vehicles.

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LALEXPERT: Sclerotinia cycle and prophylactic methods

Video: LALEXPERT: Sclerotinia cycle and prophylactic methods

White rot, also known as sclerotinia, is a common agricultural fungal disease caused by various virulent species of Sclerotinia. It initially affects the root system (mycelium) before spreading to the aerial parts through the dissemination of spores.

Sclerotinia is undoubtedly a disease of major economic importance, and very damaging in the event of a heavy attack.

All these attacks come from the primary inoculum stored in the soil: sclerotia. These forms of resistance can survive in the soil for over 10 years, maintaining constant contamination of susceptible host crops, causing symptoms on the crop and replenishing the soil inoculum with new sclerotia.