LIVERMORE, Calif. – April 28, 2023 – When you see a tractor chugging along in a field, all you hear is a noisy engine. But when the sounds are chirping birds and a breeze, that’s the sound of an electric tractor hard at work. An April 2023 article in The Washington Post talked to Monarch Chief Farming Officer and Co-founder, Carlo Mondavi, what the MK-V electric tractor means for farms and the environment.
Monarch Tractor has the only fully electric, driver-optional, smart tractor on the market. Its path to commercial availability included massive support from investors and along the way, the EV tractor collected many AgTech awards. Monarch’s MK-V is now available to an array of ag markets and is currently being mass-produced in Ohio. It’s a good thing because demand for it is high.
EV tractors are known for cutting carbon emissions and each Monarch MK-V represents the equivalent of removing 14 vehicles from the roads. Electric tractors also reduce fuel and maintenance costs. Collectively, these deliverables, along with higher labor productivity and operation efficiencies, improve farm profitability. Mondavi described the MK-V as the “missing link” in our current agricultural systems.
“To farm organically, you have to make more passes with the tractor to mow or apply sprays that don’t last as long as synthetic chemicals,” Mondavi said. “For the first time, what’s best for the planet is best for the bottom line.”
Coastal Vineyard Care Associates, one of Monarch’s early adopters, manages more than 5,000 acres of wine grapes in California. Director of Coastal Services, Domenick Buck looks to Monarch to reduce the company’s carbon footprint and greenhouse-gas emissions plus help them move towards organic and sustainable farming. His enthusiasm runs high for using the MK-V to increase productivity. In an industry plagued with labor shortages, Buck has no plans to replace workers, but rather expand what current farmhands can do.
“These [MK-V] tractors can go 13 to 15 hours on a charge, and it doesn’t take breaks or lunch,” Buck said.
The future of farming sounds good!