Drivers encouraged to focus on safety as farm traffic increases

Apr 27, 2018

Manitoba Agriculture and Manitoba Infrastructure are encouraging farmers, drivers and agricultural equipment operators to make road safety a priority this spring. Warmer temperatures mean an increase in oversized equipment travelling on Manitoba highways is expected to begin soon.

Farmers and agricultural equipment operators need to:

ensure all machinery is equipped with proper lighting, signage and reflectors when travelling on roadways, as required by The Highway Traffic Act;
ensure lights, signage and reflectors are visible and clean;
use a pilot vehicle when transporting oversized agricultural equipment;
move equipment during the day on secondary roads whenever possible;
ensure equipment fits under power lines and on bridge structures (check width and height); and
map out routes before transporting equipment and get appropriate permits from Manitoba Hydro and Manitoba Infrastructure when applicable.

Motorists should:

slow down when approaching farm equipment as it is often travelling at reduced speeds and taking up a considerable amount of room on the road;
pay attention to turn signals and possible lane changes;
only pass when it is clearly safe to do so; and
be patient.

Source : Manitoba Agriculture

Video: predictive weed Management saves on herbicide costs and increases yield potential

Gowan Canada is partnering with Geco Strategic Weed Management to help Canadian growers take a strategic approach to weed control through data-driven prediction and planning.

Geco’s technology uses data and AI to map where weeds have been over the past five years and predict where patches are likely to emerge next season. These insights allow farms and retailers to plan ahead and target actions in the most challenging areas.

“Our technology enables the question: if you could know where your most problematic patches are and where they are spreading to, what could you do differently? That’s what our technology makes possible,” said Greg Stewart, CEO of Geco. “Many of our farms are already using our prescriptions along with Gowan products, so this collaboration is a natural next step.”