(19 Sep 2025)
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
RESTRICITON SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
East Lansing, Michigan – 19 August 2025
1. Wide of electric tractor during demonstration
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2. SOUNDBITE (English) Ajit Srivastava, professor, Michigan State University:
"This is an electric tractor, it’s designed to be a utility tractor which can run on solar power or regular electrical energy. You need a large tractor for primary tillage, but you till once. But you do a lot of other operations, like weeding, spraying, that are light-energy operations. So you do those many, many times. That’s why we focused on light-duty tractors, because they are used a lot more often.”
3. Medium of people watching demonstration
4. Aerial of electric tractor turning during demonstration
5 . Wide of electric tractor driving
6. Detail of electric tractor and weeding implement
7. Cutaway of tire tracks
8. Wide of electric tractor driving inside arena
9. Wide of Don Dunklee climbing into electric tractor for test drive
++PARTIALLY COVERED++
10. SOUNDBITE (English) Don Dunklee, specialty crop farmer:
"We want to get everything electric on the farm, and tractor’s the last electric implement to get. For cultivating on a farm, it would do a really good job. I know it’s a development in progress, there’s going to be glitches. I’ll be happy to see next year when they have more of the development. The work that they’re doing on this tractor is absolutely phenomenal.”
11. Tight of Don Dunklee in the electric tractor cab
12. Cutaway of Don Dunklee pushing electric tractor pedal
13. Wide of Don Dunklee driving electric tractor
14. Wide of people inspecting electric tractor during demonstration
15. Wide of electric tractor driving in arena
STORYLINE:
Agriculture is among the largest sources of climate-warming emissions in the U.S. Though tractors are a small culprit, experts believe an environmentally friendly machine would still attract buyers interested in sustainability.
At an August event, researchers at Michigan State University asked farmers what they think of a new electric tractor. The market is so new they’re still trying to figure out if they’ve designed it well enough to excite growers of specialty crops like carrots, asparagus and blueberries.
The small, battery-powered machine isn’t meant to replace the giant diesel tractors used on big commercial soy or corn operations. Powerful enough technology for that could be decades away.
Researchers say they think electric tractors could be game-changing for smallholder farmers who grow a large majority of food around the world, and for growers who care about being more sustainable and want to market their crops as such.
As farmers at the demonstration took turns climbing in — some surprised by its quick acceleration — they gave real-time feedback to the Michigan State University researchers who have been developing it for over two years. The farmers remarked on the motor’s quiet whir. Most were intrigued, or at least open to the idea. Some were concerned that the battery on the underside of the carriage would mean a lower clearance over the field, while others worried that it would simply be too expensive.
There are downsides — electric tractors are aimed at filling a niche, not overturning the status quo. And while battery technology has come a long way, they can’t last all day or match the massive horsepower of a diesel engine that sets giant tractors cruising through the sprawling grain and soybean operations of the Midwest.
(AP Video by Joshua A. Bickel)
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