The nation's first completely electric, driverless tractor was unveiled on Saturday in Cromwell. Video / ODT / Shannon Thomson
There is a new rock star on the scene in New Zealand’s horticulture industry.
The MK-V Monarch tractor - the country’s first driver-optional, fully electric tractor - was launched in Cromwell on Saturday.
The tractor is the last piece of the puzzle making Forest Lodge Orchard - a 6ha high-densitycherry orchard - what is believed to be the world’s first 100 per cent electric, zero-fossil fuel orchard.
About 150 people attended the launch of the tractor, which included self-drive demonstrations and the opportunity to take it for a spin.
Forest Lodge orchard owner Mike Casey, who hails from a technology background, not horticulture, said he had spent two years working up to getting the tractor.
It arrived from California “about two weeks ago” and there had been a bit of work resolving the issues associated with taking a piece of American electrical equipment and putting it on the New Zealand grid, Casey said.
“But we managed to get that up and running - we’ve done the mulching in the orchard now; we’ve done all the driving like you would a regular tractor, which is really cool, and the next big goal is the automation piece - how do we take this electric tractor, have it do all those mundane tasks in the orchard really, really quickly and easily?”
The tractor is the 66th one to come off the line at Monarch and the first one to have been exported out of California and Casey said he was delighted the company was able to convince a billion-dollar tech start-up in the United States that a cherry orchard in Cromwell was a safe bet to be its first export client.
The launch was attended by an “eclectic” group of people, showing it was understood across a number of sectors electrification was important, Casey said.
“We had farmers, we had environmentalists and everyone was standing shoulder to shoulder talking about why electrification is so important, so that was pretty cool.
“I think electrification is the only thing that truly aligns people no matter what their beliefs are,” Casey said.
Forest Lodge Orchard owner Mike Casey sits on a new Californian MK-V Monarch tractor, New Zealand’s first driver-optional, fully electric tractor. Photo / Shannon Thomson
Minister of Agriculture Damien O’Connor was on hand to test the tractor and said it was an “exciting step forward”.
“The number of people who turned out here today to see one tractor is an indication of people’s interest in the future direction of decarbonisation across agriculture,” he said.
“We know it’s going to be challenging. This is how we might take those first few steps.”
Listen to Jamie Mackay interview Mike Casey on The Country below:
He acknowledged there were many questions in the agriculture industry around electrification and decarbonisation and the challenges associated with them.
“This is one example of a step forward in horticulture initially and I’m sure in other areas across rural New Zealand,” he said.
“We have to make sure that the infrastructure is there, the tractors go for long enough - it works here on this orchard but with the development that we can do in partnership with Monarch I’m sure we can have more electric tractors at a lower cost across our country,” O’Connor said.
The tractor drove like any other tractor - O’Connor has a small one in his orchard back home - but it sounded different, he said.
