Continuing with the theme of charting the ever changing face of farm mechanisation, we look at the second of half of 2022 and pick out some small steps that may add up to significant change in the farming world.
Alternative fuels was a major theme of 2022, yet there was still no great breakthrough, although it is quite evident that the expertise is available to utilise them when the distribution infrastructure is in place.
Otherwise we see the onward march of robotics with the smaller machines gaining ground, while the larger manufacturers figure out how to adapt legacy design principles to digital technology.
July
Merlo introduced its competitor to the tractor a few years ago, enabling a fully functional telehandler to undertake a wide range of tractor tasks, as opposed to the limited capability of a loader on a tractor.
One of the few examples working in Ireland is based in Co. Kerry and its owner is finding that a multi-purpose loader is as useful around the farm as a multi-purpose tractor, which is quite as Merlo intended.
It is another development which challenges the status quo, yet it is only by shifts in thinking that progress can be made. The hydrostatic transmission is cited as an issue, but there are always objections to progress.
August
Innovation needn’t come from the big companies with generous research and development (R&D) budgets, smaller enterprises can come up with novel ideas that take farming forward as well, indeed, many of the big names we know today come from such roots.
One such entrepreneur is Alan Winters, founder of Alstrong, who has been working on soil aeration and, more latterly, grassland reseeding for several years, focusing on speed and weight to cultivate the soil surface rather than tickling it with tines.
This approach differs markedly from the careful avoidance of ground compaction, yet he has customers who testify to its effectiveness in improving soil drainage and crop establishment.
September
Tractor manufacturers are in the the business of mechanising farming and head a tillage system dominated by tractor-drawn implements, so machines that seek to overturn this arrangement will be eyed warily.
A potential nemesis in the form of a solar-powered robot which tends to a crop throughout the day and night, known as the Farmdroid, arrived in Ireland in 2022 after successfully proving itself on the continent.
The robot plants and and weeds up to 10ha of land, moving slowly across the ground without intervention from humans. other than moving it between fields.
October
Alternative fuels have been a hot topic in 2022 and while there is pressure to transition cars to energy storage by battery, there are few, if any, engine manufacturers who see this as being feasible for agriculture, other than for specialist growers.
Volvo Penta is the latest company to jump into the fray with a system jointly developed with CMB.Tech of Essex, which mixes hydrogen and diesel fuel in an otherwise standard compression ignition engine.
The idea is not to replace diesel fuel, but to supplement it with another that can be obtained by using renewable energy. However, synthetic fuels derived from the same process may turn out the more attractive option.
November
Up until now there has been little choice when it comes to self-propelled mowers, never a healthy situation, although Krone, to its credit, has kept developing its Big M and it is a very effective tool.
This position has now been challenged by the Swiss company ARB Tech, which applies engineering expertise to various agricultural and industrial situations, one of which is mowing.
Its answer is a machine that is half the weight of the Big M with a slightly wider cut. Whether it will be suitable for heavy crops is unknown, but it has brought fresh thinking to the operation and that should only be encouraged.
December
In the search for alternative energy management, New Holland has have moved on from compressed natural gas (methane) which requires a bank of bottles and pipes to store and deliver it to the engine.
In late 2022 it produced a tractor that stores the methane in liquid form which can be kept in regular shaped tanks, a major step forward in the acceptance of the product as an alternative fuel.
However, like all alternatives, the issue of the production and distribution of the fuel remains largely unsolved.
While we might have tractors capable of running on them there needs to be an infrastructure present to make and deliver the fuel to the farm, and that is going to be expensive.
