COFS demonstrations showcase equipment in action

Demonstrations at Canada’s Outdoor Farm Show provide the ideal opportunity for farmers to see new equipment, discuss it with their peers and get their hands into the dirt or the crops.

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The show will feature demonstrations for most types of row crops produced in southern Ontario.

The forage demo returns in 2023, says show field manager Brayden Bell, and for the first time in five years, there will be hay demonstrations. The first two days of the show Sept. 12 and 13 will showcase mower-conditioner systems and mergers will be featured on Sept. 14.

Bell says he hopes this will be the first of two years for forage demonstrations, with baling or harvesting demonstrations included in 2024.

A look at fertilizer application

Dry fertilizer spreaders will be in the demo fields at COFS again this year, as more farmers look at owning their own applicators. With fertilizer costs down from 2022 but still high, there’s interest in more precise application.

Check out sprayers

Farmers can get a close look and take a short drive in the latest sprayers at the Sprayer Technology Showcase.

“Everyone has different strategic features on their machines,” says Bell.

New technology on sprayers includes the first see-and-spray units on the market.

Getting top value from straw

Straw chopping has become more important on livestock farms to prepare large bales for bedding or feeding. This year the straw choppers will be found in the southwest demo field.

Tillage and its uses

OMAFRA and Soils at Guelph are back with their latest crop demos and this year they’re talking tillage – the many kinds used at different times in Ontario. Many tillage methods will be demonstrated at the Tillage Ts demo, from a plow to a traditional disc to a high speed disc. New this year, the demo is sponsored by IGPC.

Cutting down cover crops

There are many ways to terminate cover crops, including tillage. This demonstration will show visitors how various tillage tools tackle different cover crops. Bell says a variety of cover crops will be part of the demo, from pure oats to 10 and 15-way mixes.

There are two sites for most of the field demonstrations this year – one at the traditional place in the southwest demo field, and another across the road for forages and Tillage Ts. This site is south of the main show site in the demonstration research farm.

The Sprayer Technology Showcase will be on the main show site, south of the site office, near the TD Pavilion.

Even more demos

Other demonstrations are based at the west demo field across the road from the main show site. There, farmers can see the latest autonomous technology with Haggerty AgRobotics, drone demonstrations and the return of the popular helicopters for agriculture with Great Lakes Helicopter.