NEWS
MyEagleNews.com
Wednesday, May 25, 2022
A7
Farmers pitch in to fi eld-test electric tractors
By GEORGE PLAVEN
Capital Press
‘Inevitable transition’
Wallace is executive direc-
tor of the Wy’East Resource
Conservation and Develop-
ment Area Council, a regional
nonprofi t based in The Dalles,
Ore., dedicated to helping
farms improve their energy and
water effi ciency.
As a certifi ed energy man-
ager, Wallace has spent most
of the last decade working
with growers to optimize their
irrigation systems by install-
ing more effi cient pumps and
sprinklers.
The electric tractor proj-
ect came to Wallace from
two other Oregon nonprofi ts
— Sustainable Northwest, a
renewable energy and natural
resources conservation group,
and Forth Mobility, which
aims to expand access to elec-
tric vehicles and transportation.
Discussions
started
pre-pandemic, with the non-
profi ts interested in acceler-
ating the adoption of electric
farm machinery.
Bridget Callahan, senior
energy program manager for
Sustainable Northwest, said
the transition to electrifi cation
is “inevitable” as more states
adopt policies to curb fossil
fuels.
Oregon legislators passed a
law known as the Climate Pro-
tection Program late last year.
It requires fuel suppliers in
Oregon to reduce greenhouse
gas emissions from the prod-
ucts they sell 50% by 2035 and
90% by 2050.
“Our idea is, we’re see-
ing this rapid transformation.
... We know it’s not going to
look the same in rural parts of
the state and Northwest,” Cal-
lahan said. “How do we ensure
major investments in electrifi -
cation, and what does that look
like in a rural context?”
Whitaker Jamieson, pro-
gram manager at Forth Mobil-
ity, said they wanted to show
the potential for electric trac-
tors on farms.
“I think that’s the key to the
George Plaven/Capital Press
Robert Wallace, executive director of the Wy’East Resource Conservation and Development Area
Council, demonstrates a new Solectrac compact electric tractor at his home in Dufur.
Ramsey
Jamieson
demonstration,” Jamieson said.
“You start to see heads turning,
and people saying ‘I need to
start thinking about this for my
farm.’”
Boots on the ground
A fourth project partner,
the Bonneville Environmental
Foundation, came aboard and
provided funding to purchase
one of the fi rst two demonstra-
tion tractors.
The foundation works pri-
marily with consumer-owned
utilities in the Northwest that
purchase hydroelectricity from
the Bonneville Power Admin-
istration. It includes a renew-
able energy program that sup-
ports community solar projects,
as well as electric vehicles.
Evan Ramsey, senior direc-
tor of renewables for the foun-
dation, said the project was a
good fi t.
“This was one way to get
some of this clean technology
into those communities,” Ram-
sey said. “Certainly the pros-
pects for electric tractors —
reducing operating expenses,
reducing health impacts for
farmers and reducing emis-
sions — those are all great out-
comes, if we can realize them.”
The project has also
received backing from the
USDA, Alumbra Innovations
Foundation, Pacifi c Power and
Portland General Electric’s
Drive Change Fund.
Wallace, with the Wy’East
RC&D, said he was brought on
to be the boots on the ground,
running the tractors and build-
ing interest among farmers.
The fi rst two tractors were
shipped to his home in 2021.
Both came from the Califor-
nia manufacturer Solectrac
— the 40-horsepower eUtility
Electric Tractor and 30-horse-
power Com-
pact Electric
Tractor.
Wa l l a c e
fi tted
both
models with
data collec-
Callahan
tion systems
that use cellu-
lar and satellite connections to
show where the tractors have
been, what they were doing,
how long they were able to do
specifi c tasks and how much
energy they used.
One of the challenges, Wal-
lace said, is limitations with
the battery packs. To make a
battery large enough to power
a 500-horsepower combine,
like those seen in his neigh-
bors’ wheat fi elds, would not
be cost-eff ective.
But for smaller farms, vine-
yards and orchards, Wallace
said the electric tractors can do
a lot.
“Overall, they can perform
any job that an equivalent die-
sel tractor can perform,” he
said.
Field testing, charging
Dave Picanso, farm man-
ager at Rusted Gate Farm in
Central Point, said they hosted
the electric tractors last spring
to test drive in their apple and
truffl e orchards.
“When we fi rst started using
them, the fi rst thing everybody
noticed is how quick they are,”
Picanso said. “You can take off
basically in any gear.”
Rusted Gate Farm is a
working farm and nonprofi t
organization in the Rogue Val-
ley of Southern Oregon. Part
of the mission, Picanso said,
is to support other small farms
through demonstrations, trials
and educational outreach.
Picanso said there was
“defi nitely” a learning curve
getting used to the electric
tractors and how they handle.
The tractors were too small
to use working hay, he said.
They were better suited for the
orchards — mowing brush,
moving mulch and running a
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Cost of ownership
On May 12, Oregon State
University published a study
analyzing the cost of ownership
for the Solectrac Compact Elec-
tric Tractor and 32-horsepower
John Deere 2032R.
The study, conducted by
OSU’s Nexus of Energy, Water
and Agriculture Lab, assumes
both tractors operate 250 hours
a year for seven years. The cost
of ownership is divided into
four segments: purchase price,
fi nancing costs, energy costs
and maintenance and repair.
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rotary tiller between rows of
trees.
The tractors charged over-
night, and Picanso said they
never had an issue running out
of battery while out on a job.
“We ran it for three and a
half to four hours pretty hard,
and we would still have 30%
(battery),” he said.
In Dufur, Wallace showed
how the tractors can plug into
any standard 220-volt outlet.
It takes roughly three to four
hours for the tractors to fully
charge, while the battery life
ranges from several hours to
all day, depending on how hard
they’re working.
“It’s a lot easier to charge
these than even what we orig-
inally thought,” Wallace said.
“We don’t need on-farm
charging stations.”
Wallace acknowledges there
are limitations with the tractors’
size and batteries. They can’t
do everything that commercial
agriculture demands, he said,
but trials like those at Rusted
Gate prove they can be eff ec-
tive in certain operations.
“Now we’ve got things we
can use, things we can see on
the landscape,” he said. “It’s not
going to fi t every solution, and
that’s not what we’re trying to
do.”
Growing interest
A separate report released
simultaneously by the Cadeo
Group in Portland examined
the electric tractor market in
the Pacifi c Northwest and bar-
riers to adoption.
Electric tractors are still
nascent in the U.S., accord-
ing to the report, making up
less than 1% of the total mar-
ket share. Buyers now tend to
be hobby farmers willing to
assume greater risk to try less
established technologies.
“The farm is not their pri-
mary source of income,” the
report states, “and therefore
they are more willing to try
a new technology based on
other motivations such as car-
bon emission reduction with-
out risking their long-term
economic capability.”
However, the report states
that adoption of electric trac-
tors could quickly increase
due to recent technological
improvements, cost reductions
in development and manufac-
turers increasing production.
Based on their demon-
strations and cost of owner-
ship fi ndings, Callahan said
the project is growing in both
scale and interest. Another two
Solectrac Compact Electric
Tractors were delivered earlier
this month, which will be made
available to farms for testing.
In March, Oregon Sens.
Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley
announced a $1.5 million allo-
cation to the project, which will
be used to add 12 new electric
vehicles to the fl eet.
“We’re certainly eager to
watch this program scale,”
Callahan said. “We just want
to make sure this technology
is accessible, and we think
there are a lot of ways to do
it.”
Traci Brock, member ser-
vices manager for the Wasco
Electric Cooperative in The
Dalles, said they will bring an
electric tractor to demonstrate
at their annual member appre-
ciation picnic in June. The
co-op serves roughly 5,000
square miles and 3,000 cus-
tomers in rural Oregon.
“Farmers, as much as they
want to say they don’t want it,
I think it intrigues them a little
bit,” Brock said. “It’s one thing
reading an article about it. It’s
another thing actually getting
your hands on it.”
Jamieson, the project man-
ager at Forth Mobility, said
electric tractors are only going
to get better as the project
moves forward.
“Once the market really
starts to pick up over the next
2-3 years, I think we’ll start to
see pretty signifi cant changes
in this sphere,” he said.
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DUFUR — The fi rst time
Robert Wallace started an elec-
tric tractor, he was astonished
by how quiet it was.
“I didn’t know if it was on
or not,” Wallace said. “It was
the most mind-boggling thing.
It took me probably two or
three weeks to get used to, not
having a constant rumble of
noise.”
Over the last year, Wallace
has become well acquainted
with the tractor as he used it to
mow grass and perform other
chores around his home near
Dufur.
His demonstrations are part
of a unique project in Oregon,
fi eld testing electric tractors
in rural agricultural areas like
Dufur and allowing producers
to see fi rsthand what they can
do on farms and in orchards.
Data from the trials were
also used by Oregon State Uni-
versity in a newly released
study comparing the cost of
ownership for battery-powered
electric tractors to their die-
sel counterparts. Early results
indicate the cost may be com-
parable, depending on several
factors, including the purchase
price, fuel prices and mainte-
nance costs.
Proponents of electric vehi-
cles are quick to point out
social and environmental ben-
efi ts such as reducing carbon
emissions that contribute to cli-
mate change. But Wallace said
his main focus is simply learn-
ing how the technology stacks
up for rural areas.
“I consider myself just a
realist,” he said. “I want to be
able to say if it works, or if it
doesn’t work.”
According to the study, the
electric tractor produced sub-
stantially less greenhouse gas
emissions — 1.56 metric tons
versus 4.84 metric tons gener-
ated by the diesel tractor. The
electric tractor’s emissions
were calculated based on the
estimated emissions of gener-
ating the electricity it used.
Meanwhile, the cost of
ownership was roughly equiv-
alent, ranging from $39,853 to
$40,738 for the electric trac-
tor compared to $37,553 to
$43,072 for the diesel tractor.
The fi ndings were based on
data collected by Wallace.
Kyle Proctor, the study’s
author, wrote that eTractors
“off er a great value proposi-
tion for farmers in the Pacifi c
Northwest.”
“The transition toward
eTractors would support the
country’s goals of combating
climate change, and because
agriculture is one of the indus-
tries most vulnerable to climate
change impacts, the transition
to eTractors can serve as an act
of self-preservation for agricul-
ture,” Proctor wrote.
More than 80% of the cost
of ownership for the Solectrac
Compact Electric Tractor is
associated with the initial pur-
chase price. The base price is
listed at $27,999, or $33,797
if you add the front loader and
industrial tires.
The base price for the diesel
John Deere 2032R is $25,345,
which includes industrial tires.
Deere and other manufactur-
ers are also developing electric
tractors and sprayers.
Callahan, with Sustainable
Northwest, said the study is
further underscored by the ris-
ing cost of diesel. The Amer-
ican Automobile Association
reports the average price of die-
sel is currently $4.99 per gallon
in Oregon, and $4.48 per gallon
nationwide.
Average electricity prices
in Oregon are lower than the
national average, according to
the U.S. Energy Information
Administration, with about half
all all generation hydro power.
Rates are 10.86 cents per
kilowatt-hour for residential
customers; 9.27 cents per kilo-
watt-hour for commercial cus-
tomers; and 5.89 cents per
kilowatt-hour for industrial
customers.
“Energy is one of the few
things (farmers) can con-
trol,” Callahan said. “Electri-
fying their farm, being able to
plug their tractor in at home
and being able to completely
remove all these other market
forces provides a lot more sta-
bility, and really adds another
layer of resilience to our farm-
ing community.”
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