Bruce MacDonald2d ago

I doubt it. Then again, What do I know? I'm no farmer, despite my age and last name.

"The last major geomagnetic storm dated back to 2003, experts told MPR, when fewer than 10 percent of industrial farming equipment relied on GPS. But by 2024, giant planting tractors were auto-drive with precision agriculture and GPS. Blooming Prairie, Minn., corn farmer Michelle O’Connor told us her John Deere doesn’t even have a switch to go “manual” for planting."
https://www.mprnews.org/story/2026/06/11/gannon-solar-storm-cost-corn-growers-a-billion-dollars

#farming #SolarStorms #tractors

Gannon solar storm cost corn growers a billion dollars

You might remember the bright Aurora Borealis from May 2024, visible all across Minnesota and the Upper Midwest. Down below on Earth, it was a panicked few days for farmers. Solar (or geomagnetic) storms are nothing new, but technology like global positioning systems hadn’t faced a big test from a solar storm until 2024. Things did not go well.

MPR News
ResearchBuzz: FirehoseJun 4

404 Media: Demand Is Booming for New No Tech, Repairable Tractor. “The secondary market for decades old, low-tech John Deere tractors has been booming for years as farmers have sought reliable tractors that they can actually fix without having to deal with John Deere’s repair monopoly. A Canadian company has seen that demand and came up with a radical thought: What if they made a new, […]

https://rbfirehose.com/2026/06/04/404-media-demand-is-booming-for-new-no-tech-repairable-tractor/
404 Media: Demand Is Booming for New No Tech, Repairable Tractor

404 Media: Demand Is Booming for New No Tech, Repairable Tractor. “The secondary market for decades old, low-tech John Deere tractors has been booming for years as farmers have sought reliabl…

ResearchBuzz: Firehose
404 Media [Unofficial]Jun 3

Demand Is Booming for New No Tech, Repairable Tractor

https://fed.brid.gy/r/https://www.404media.co/demand-is-booming-for-ursa-ag-new-no-tech-repairable-tractor/

Multi Purr Puss Jun 2

It seems, #JohnDeere #Tractors can refuse to start, necause of a broken radio. If, by radio, they mean a "car stereo / FM receiver", that'd be malicious design.

The Canadians seem to be fixing the tractor market: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lqwdvFz1Xeo

A Repairable, No-Tech Tractor

YouTube
Techdirt [Unofficial]Jun 1

John Deere Faces Second Class Action For Monopolizing Repair

https://fed.brid.gy/r/https://www.techdirt.com/2026/06/01/john-deere-faces-second-class-action-for-monopolizing-repair/

John Deere Faces Second Class Action For Monopolizing Repair

John Deere is facing a second class action lawsuit for its ongoing, ham-fisted effort to monopolize tractor repair and drive up costs for its customers. The latest lawsuit was filed in mid-May in t…

Techdirt
PugJesusMay 28

New tractor examined by a crowd in Odesa, Ukraine, 1925

https://piefed.social/c/historyphotos/p/2097006/new-tractor-examined-by-a-crowd-in-odessa-ukraine-1925

Global MuseumMay 28
Tractors at the National Museum of Rural Life.
There are a variety of tractors from most decades of the 20th century inside and out at the National Museum of Rural Life.
https://www.nms.ac.uk/discover-catalogue/tractors-at-the-national-museum-of-rural-life?utm_source=globalmuseum #globalmuseum #rural #tractors
coolmccoolMay 22
Campground garden, Chinchilla, Qld. Taken with a #Nikon D3200 and 18-55mm Dx lens I found in an op shop for $20. Minimal processing in #darktable

#photography #tractors #photo #machinery #australia #australian
coolmccoolMay 22
Ancient tractor spotted in Chinchilla, Qld. Early morning light, Grey Kangaroos hopping away in the foreground. That's #australia
Taken with a #Nikon D3200 and 18-55mm Dx lens I found in an op shop for $20.

#photography #tractors #photo #machinery
Clayton HoveMay 12

Back in the day, trendy North Dakota farmers liked to ride their McCormick-Deering tractors at a jaunty angle.

#antiques #vintage #tractors #farming #northdakota