Tractor, harvester IT comes of age
Over the last halfdecade, digital technology has appeared to be the “must-have” for tractor and machinery companies, who believe that bringing IT to tractors and farming will offer its customers huge benefits.
Following a four-year collaboration between global giants John Deere and Ford’s sustainable materials team, the duo set out with a goal of developing a prototype vehicle using waste streams converted into viable machine components.
The project brief was to build a Gator light utility vehicle using renewable, recycled, and recyclable materials. According to senior material engineer Keith Shanter, that was difficult because they had to work within the current framework of production tooling.
“We weren’t going to invest in new tooling for a product that won’t actually go to market, but we did everything we could to find sustainable materials that were suitable replacements.”
In the end, the wide variety of different materials used included soya beans for the roof and doors and seat foam. Flax and hemp fibre, wheat straw and maple wood were selected for interior panels and exterior door panels are made from sugar cane with maize cob filler. A rice hull filler was used for the dashboard and the grab handles are made from recycled fishing nets. Also water-sourced, the bonnet was made from plastic bottles pulled from the Mississippi river, while a storage compartment was made from ground coconut, adding to the list of surprising materials used to make this concept Gator.
JD has no plans to take the concept to the production stage, but one component from this project that is in Gators produced today is a defrost louvre made from recycled tyres.
'A lot of interest and positive responses' appears to be the way farmers are viewing the Government's initiative to hold a series of woolshed meetings around the country.
A Southland farming leader wants the regional council to delay a proposed regional rates hike, much of which is intended to fund flood protection works.
Rural Women New Zealand (RWNZ) says access to personal banking services in rural communities is fundamental to promoting outcomes that benefit Kiwi consumers.
A group set up to boost education and promotion of wool says it has made positive strides during the first year of its three-year strategy.
Meat processor ANZCO Foods says despite a challenging business environment, it has posted a net profit before tax of $61 million for 2023.
Horticulture NZ chief executive Nadine Tunley will step down in August.
OPINION: Canterbury milk processor Synlait is showing no sign of bouncing back from its financial doldrums.
OPINION: It seems every bugger in this country can get an award these days.