Farm Equipment editors encounter a variety of articles, social media posts, podcasts and videos that offer a unique look at various aspects of our great farm machinery industry. Here is our favorite content from the past week from across the web:

Best of the Web This Week is brought to you by CLEANFIX.

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Proven in the most demanding of ag conditions, CLEANFIX reversible fans provide the most efficient diesel engine cooling and radiator cleaning available. The multi-patented reversing fan technology maintains machine cooling as needed and, when required, provides the strongest blowout of dust and debris -- without halting or slowing operations.

Want More Productive Meetings? Tell us Elon…

One of our Farm Equipment customers alerted us to this post recirculating again, apparently a leaked 2018 email from Elon Musk to his Tesla staff on his rules for productivity. What do you think?

Christmas Giving: Ag Community Challenged to ‘Pay It Forward’

Dr. Warren Dick, retired Soil Science Professor from Ohio State Univ., is “paying it forward” in working to help Ethiopia produce more and better food, reduce poverty, and improve people’s nutrition and health. This Christmas season, he’s seeking contributions to help establish a university and training center to serve Africa. Goals, he says, include “developing and demonstrating more productive ways of growing food, test more efficient irrigation techniques, create a model fish production system, develop agroforestry and conservation agriculture projects, and establish an analytical chemistry laboratory so that farmers will have accurate information on how best to manage their soils and crops." More on the project here: facebook.com/bethelagriculture.org

History Lesson: Ag Tires Celebrate 90th Birthday

By the early 1930s, the clanging of more than 1 million steel-wheeled tractors could be heard (and felt by the operators) throughout the nation, reports Ohio State University. Early attempts to solve the problem by using airplane tires on truck rims failed. In the spring of 1932, Harvey Firestone and son Leonard combined the balloon tire principle of low pressure with wide surface area and added a chevron tread design to produce a successful rubber tractor tire. Within 5 years, rubber tires were sold on 42% of all new tractors sold in the U.S., and would grow to 85% by 1939.

rubber tires poster

Christmas Gift Idea: Tractor Wars: John Deere, Henry Ford, International Harvester and the Birth of Modern Agriculture

Neil Dahlstrom is the manager of Archives & History at John Deere who has assisted us with several Farm Equipment related projects over the years and let the Lessiters roam about his archives for much of a day in an obsessive search a couple of years ago. Dahlstrom’s newest book wasn’t out in time for last season’s Christmas season, but we give it high marks for our Farm Equipment audience.

Henry Ford tractor

Schulte Auctions Off Ukrainian Charity Cutter to Support Displaced Ukrainian Refugees

If you would like to bid on the Ukrainian Charity Cutter, it’s live on Ritchie Bros Auctions. Proceeds will be donated to the Ukrainian Canadian Congress Saskatchewan Branch to help settle displaced Ukrainian refugees in Saskatchewan.

Product Video of the Week: Swarm Farm Robotics Expands Autonomous Farming in Australia and Beyond

Ag technology company Swarm Farm Robotics discuss how their experiences on Australian farms helped inform the decision making when developing their robots. Having grown to more than one million acres using their robots, the company is looking to expand their operations outside of Australia. Their integrated autonomous equipment revolves around using a base robot platform which is then customized for the needs of that farm by partnering with third party manufacturers.

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Best of the Web This Week is brought to you by CLEANFIX.

Proven in the most demanding of ag conditions, CLEANFIX reversible fans provide the most efficient diesel engine cooling and radiator cleaning available. The multi-patented reversing fan technology maintains machine cooling as needed and, when required, provides the strongest blowout of dust and debris -- without halting or slowing operations.

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