Electric Vehicles for The Farm
A farmer farms over 10,000 acres of corn in the Midwest. The property
is spread out over 3 counties. This amount of acreage to farm in
America's heartland is not uncommon.
His operation is a "partnership farm" with John Deere. They use the
larger farm operations as demonstration projects for the promotion and
development of new equipment.
He recently received a phone call from his John Deere representative,
and they want the farm to go to electric tractors and combines in
2024.
He currently has 5 diesel combines that cost $900,000 each that are traded in every 3 years. Also, over 10 large tractors. JD wants him to go all-electric soon.
The farmer said "Ok, I have some questions. How do I charge these
combines when they are 3 counties away from the shop in the middle of
a cornfield, in the middle of nowhere?"
"How do I run them 10 to 12 days straight, 24 hours a day when the
harvest is ready, and the weather is coming in?"
"How do I get a 50,000 lb. combine that takes up the width of an
entire road back to the shop 20 miles away when the battery goes
dead?"
There was dead silence on the other end of the phone. Harvesting is
time sensitive because delays degrade sugar content and quality which
could drop the crop value by over half a million dollars
It is standard procedure to run these machines 10 to 12 days
straight, 24 hours a day at peak harvest time. When they need fuel, a
tanker truck delivers it, and the machines keep going.
John Deere's only answer is "we're working on it." Their
representative advised they are being pushed by the government to
force these electric machines on American farmers.
They are messing with the production of food crops that feed people
and livestock... all in the name of their "green dream." When you
read things like this it is obvious that all "electric" is not well
thought out.
"Why do you always have to be right!" - "Only because you INSIST on being wrong".
