3FOOD

Third Industrial Revolution Consulting Group
John Deere's line of E tractors (“electricity”) is indicative of a shift underway in reducing fossil
fuel consumption by increasing power electronics used in farm machinery. The E models
generate electricity for operating the tractor’s air conditioning compressor, the air brakes
compressor, fans for engine cooling, as well as powering shop and hand tools. Farm machinery
has not yet experienced the inroads witnessed in electric buses, trucks and automobiles, but
the spillover and crossover is under development.
Deere’s 7030E Series tractor, available for nearly a decade, has “a built-in power generator that
makes 400-volt, 3-phase power and 230-volt DC power on-the-go,” and includes an “all-electric
twin-disc fertilizer spreader. It uses the three-phase power to drive spreader motors, while 12 V
power drives the agitators and two electric actuators. The spreader offers a clear example of
the benefits of electric drives. Drive speeds are controlled independently of tractor ground
speed or rpm. Speeds are easy to adjust and hold constant. Spinner discs can be shut down
more quickly, thanks to the electrical braking of disc motors.” 153
Electric pick-up trucks are available, ready for serving frequent farmer mobility needs, like 20 to
30 kilometer round-trips to feed and parts stores, chores around fields, going to and from grain
elevators, moving loads, etc. The excellent torque of electric motors would be a benefit for
hauling animals or towing trailers.
The extra weight of batteries for electric utility tractors should be less a liability than in cars, by
providing some useful tractor ballast. Actions only requiring a short time, like feeding cattle
twice a day with a silage loader-tractor, would be better served by an all-electric tractor, as
would other jobs taking up a few hours.
The declining cost advancements in stationary battery systems are being marketed by
numerous firms - Tesla’s Powerwall, Schneider Electric’s EcoBlade, Sonnenbatterie, Samsung
SDI, LG Chem, Saft Groupe, and many start-ups – and bring to the farm the opportunity to
integrate these advanced batteries with solar PV systems or wind turbines for reducing and
replacing fossil fuel needs for lights, dryers, pumps, compressors, fans, refrigeration, coolers,
etc.
Zürn Harvesting GmbH & Co. KG, the John Deere subsidiary, has developed an electrically
driven header where separate electric motors individually power at variable speeds the auger,
knife, reel and belt drives; while displacing sprockets, chains, pulleys and belts. The header was
engineered jointly with Group Schumacher and the University of Dresden. In addition to
displacing fuels and emissions, there are other benefits. For example, the “knife speed can be
varied separately to the table auger and, with each of the adapted premium flow table’s rubber
153 See: https://www.farmshow.com/a_article.php?aid=20815
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