Free Republic

Nobody should doubt Chief of the General Staff of the Polish Armed Forces General Rajmund Andrzejczak’s intentions or suspect that he’s a so-called “Russian agent” since he sincerely wants the West to win its proxy war with Russia in Ukraine, but he’s also very worried that it might lose unless his side acknowledges the unpopular truths that he just shared since the failure to do so could doom Kiev to defeat.The last time that Chief of the General Staff of the Polish Armed Forces General Rajmund Andrzejczak generated media attention was in late January after he elaborated on how formidable...

Hundreds of tractors driven by angry farmers protesting a plan to cut nitrate levels converged on Brussels on Friday, creating major traffic disruption in Belgium's capital city. The BB farmers union and several others combined efforts to gather more than 2,700 farm vehicles, according to Brussels police. Several major roads in Brussels were closed and police warned that disruptions could last until the end of the day, recommending that people use public transportation instead of personal cars. The Flemish regional government is struggling to find a deal to cut nitrate pollution over farmers’ objections that it would put many out...

On Colorado’s northeastern plains, where the pencil-straight horizon divides golden fields and blue sky, a farmer named Danny Wood scrambles to plant and harvest proso millet, dryland corn and winter wheat in short, seasonal windows. That is until his high-tech Steiger 370 tractor conks out. The tractor’s manufacturer doesn’t allow Wood to make certain fixes himself, and last spring his fertilizing operations were stalled for three days before the servicer arrived to add a few lines of missing computer code for $950. “That’s where they have us over the barrel; it’s more like we are renting it than buying it,”...

One of the world’s top manufacturers and distributors of agricultural equipment announced Thursday that a ransomware attack impacted operations. Duluth, Georgia-based AGCO Corp. released a statement that some of its manufacturing plants have slowed production for several days because of a ransomware attack. “AGCO is still investigating the extent of the attack, but it is anticipated that its business operations will be adversely affected for several days and potentially longer to fully resume all services depending upon how quickly the Company is able to repair its systems,” AGCO’s statement read. AGCO has an extensive portfolio of machines and equipment manufacturers...

President Trump lauded the partial trade agreement he struck with China this week, calling it the “greatest and best” deal in a tweet Saturday morning. As part of the deal -- which Trump and President Xi Jinping could sign as soon as next month -- China agreed to raise its agricultural purchases to between $40 billion and $50 billion from $8 billion to $16 billion and to make certain reforms on intellectual property and financial services. The U.S. will not raise tariffs on Oct. 15 from 25 percent to 30 percent. It’s still unclear whether Trump plans to halt another...

Farmers — tired of being blamed for climate change — drive tractor convoy to The Hague, causing record-breaking rush hour in the NetherlandsOctober 01, 2019A plow on the front of one tractor was spray-painted with the words, 'How dairy you'Farmers in the Netherlands are ticked off over claims that they should be held responsible for nitrogen oxide emissions, so much so that police said 2,200 joined a convoy of tractors storming The Hague in protest on Tuesday. Reuters reported that the agriculture activists caused "the worst morning commute in Dutch history."In the midst of the country's efforts to curb carbon...

Smart Ag introduced the concept of an autonomous tractor pulling a grain cart at the 2018 Farm Progress Show in Boone, Iowa. However, due to weather conditions and a few glitches here and there, it didn’t do much actual demonstrating a year ago. A new and improved version is ready to roll, and spokespeople say they intend to have it operating so 2019 Farm Progress Show visitors can see its potential in Decatur, Ill., Aug. 27-29. “We will be participating in the Ride ’n’ Drive display area at the show,” says Tim Norris, Eastern regional business director for Smart Ag....

To avoid the draconian locks that John Deere puts on the tractors they buy, farmers throughout America's heartland have started hacking their equipment with firmware that's cracked in Eastern Europe and traded on invite-only, paid online forums. Tractor hacking is growing increasingly popular because John Deere and other manufacturers have made it impossible to perform "unauthorized" repair on farm equipment, which farmers see as an attack on their sovereignty and quite possibly an existential threat to their livelihood if their tractor breaks at an inopportune time. "When crunch time comes and we break down, chances are we don't have time...

Lisa Leiter talks with UIC finance professor Robert Chirinko about the chances of Caterpillar leaving Illinois and what impact that would have on the state.

Spc. Courtney Brown, Delta Troop, 3/73 Cav., 1st BCT, 82nd Airborne Div., drives one of the tractors delivered to Iraqi farmers, Dec. 22, in Sununi. Photo by Spc. Crystal Witherspoon, 3rd Infantry Division. FOB MAREZ — To help them reap a bountiful harvest next season, U.S. Soldiers here recently delivered two large tractors and two mid-size combines to local farmers in Sununi. Because farming, a very essential contributor to Sununi's economic success, has been rather hard for the workers due to a lack of farming supplies, the U.S. State Department’s Provincial Reconstruction Team here has been making plans since September...

One of 14 ArmaTrac 602 tractors presented to local sheiks in the Lutifiyah Nahia during a ceremony on Combat Outpost Meade, March 5. Photo by Pfc. Evan Loyd, 1st Armored Division Public Affairs. COMBAT OUTPOST MEADE — Multi-National Division—Baghdad Soldiers presented 14 new tractors to local Shaykhs from the Lutifiyah Nahia during a ceremony here, March 5. Each ArmaTrac 602 tractor should help to cultivate an area over 25,000,000 square feet.  Troops from Task Force 4th Battalion, 27th Field Artillery, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division used funds from the Commander’s Emergency Response Program to purchase the 14 new...

Sonya Rinker was looking for a guy: someone who was kind, respectful and had a special place in his heart ... for tractors. She wanted a man who could share the thrill of a good tractor-pull show, who could see beauty in a shiny row of green and yellow of John Deere tractors. She didn't know that somewhere along these rolling Pennsylvania hills, there was such a man, a shy guy named Tom with two vintage Deere tractors. He had been looking for a gal, someone who'd put up with his milking cows at 3 a.m. and his six-day work...

Local residents who want to add their two cents about the proposed Interstate 69 construction won't have to fill their tanks to do it. TxDOT is coming to Longview. The Texas Department of Transportation is holding 46 public hearings this month in East and South Texas along the planned corridor, including Tuesday's meeting in Longview. The hearings will give Texans a chance to comment and ask questions about the proposed Interstate 69/Trans-Texas Corridor, a collection of passenger and freight roadways, utility and rail lines from Texarkana to the Rio Grande Valley. A draft environmental impact statement released in November suggests...

A New Week....Well, almost....Will the Wall Street jitters continue??Will, FINALLY, steps be taken to end the judicial log jam in the Senate??Will the Dems, under Dr. Dean, begin to control their wacko elements??Just a few questions to ponder....We will not tire, we will not falter, and we will not fail!

RENO, NV (Mineweb.com) -- Nearly a year ago, this reporter called an old friend, who was the chairman and chief exectuive of Caterpillar (CAT) at the time. During the call, the executive expressed his concern and frustration about the use of CAT equipment by Israel’s military to bulldoze Palestinian settlements. There was no way he would support or in any way condone the use of the equipment to violate human rights. But, thus far, he was helpless to stop it. As far as we were concerned, the most complicated issue was: How can a company control a buyer’s use of...

On May 11, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency unleashed a new clean-air rule that further cuts diesel emissions from off-road vehicles, generators, locomotives and marine vessels. The new “Tier 4” mandate is EPA’s fourth step since introducing off-road standards in 1996, and it lowers such pollution by 90% (ENR 6/23/03 p. 13). The rule varies across engine sizes, but most producers will reduce nitrogen-oxide levels in new engines to 0.3 grams per brake-horsepower-hour and particulates to 0.01 g/bhp-hr by 2014. Under the new rule, EPA is not requiring pollution controls on existing machines in the field. Off-road fuel also is...

AP Photo Lt. Gov. Catherine Baker Knoll, center, talks with Pennsylvania Secretary of State Pedro Cortez, left, and Pennsylvania State Police Commissioner Jeffrey Miller, after filling in for Gov. Ed Rendell, who is vacationing in Florida, at the opening ceremonies of the 2004 Pennsylvania Farm Show, Saturday in Harrisburg, Pa. Ken Wetzel from Indiana County, Pa., left, moves his Duroc hog, Sally, this year's winner of the Supreme Champion Swine award, from the judging circle after the award ceremony on the opening day of the Pennsylvania Farm Show, Saturdayin Harrisburg, Pa. One of Larry Arnold's yorkshire pigs tries to...

MADURAI: In a ghastly incident, a lorry, laden with match boxes, which caught fire after colliding with a tractor, set ablaze three autorickshaws, two roadside hotels, a tea shop and a fertiliser godown at Vadipatti, about 30 km from here on Saturday.Police said three persons, including the lorry driver, were injured in the accident.According to police, the diesel tank of the lorry burst in a collision igniting the match boxes. The fire spread instantly, forcing the lorry driver to jump out.Later, the lorry ran helter-skelter setting ablaze three autorickshaws, two roadside hotels and a tea shop before demolishing a fertliser...