All-electric, self-driving tractor making its way to Cromwell orchard

This US-built Monarch tractor is first of its kind to be imported anywhere in the world. (Source: 1News)

Of the tens of thousands of tractors on farms across New Zealand, none are quite like this one.

This US-built Monarch tractor is the all-electric, self driving model and the first of its kind to be imported anywhere in the world - to a cherry orchard near the small South Island town of Cromwell.

"This is literally the final piece of the puzzle for our our fully electric orchard," said Forest Lodge Orchard owner Mike Casey.

The machine has been partly paid for through the Energy Efficiency & Conservation Authority (EECA) Technology Demonstration Fund which encourages people to look at new way of going greener.

EECA said agriculture represents around 10% of all fossil fuel use here -- that's estimated to be about 1.5 million litres of fuel and 2.86 million tonnes of emissions every year.

It is hoped the new technology tractor is the one way to help drive decarbonisation in the sector.

Spokesperson Richard Briggs said: "That fund exists to help earlier movers and earlier adopters derisk those types of projects and I'm sure if someone comes with another project we would be interested to talk to them."

Central Otago is the first place to get one of the tractors outside of California after Casey spent two years and multiple trips to the United States to get one.

Monarch Tractors President Mark Schwager told 1News exclusively that it took some convincing "to send one tractor all the way to the Southern Hemisphere".

"Honestly, it's because we can see the potential in the market to basically be an example or showcase for the world [about] what is possible for sustainable farming," he said.

As for Mike Casey, the tractor is part of the work he has been doing for some time.

"We've been running everything without fossil fuels for about 18 months now.

"We're running [the] tractor with the solar panels that we charge it with for around $2 an hour. It could be as high as $20 an hour to run a similar diesel tractor," he said.

Now it's believed sustainability is integral to the industry's future.

Richard Briggs said: "As overseas customers are beginning to ask questions now of their entire supply chain, if we don't do it, customers will be going elsewhere."

However, he said, getting other farmers on board will take time.

"It's always a hard sell and it's a lot easier when you're dragged into this. Mike [Casey] now has a product that's quite appealing to overseas customers."

So how much does it cost?

Well, this model would set you back around $140,000 and the battery lasts about eight hours on a full charge but could be longer depending on how you use it.

But many farmers would be busy doing other things because it is autonomous too.

"At the moment, we're just trying to train it to drive up and down our rows and get used to running on our orchard," Casey told 1News.

He said the tractor would start at around 360 hours of work a year, but once they train the tractor more, there could be even more uses.

Mowing, spraying and collecting data about the cherries were the first steps.

While this is a medium size model, Monarch plans to extend the range for other farm uses.

Schwager told 1News: "We do have [the] opportunity to build different sizes in the future. We have plans to build a larger one and a smaller one."

There's even a shadow mode, which basically means, if you programme the feature, you can walk in front of the tractor and it will follow you around the farm, like a sheep.

Casey believes it is the future of farming and now they can "hand on our heart" tell other orchardists and farmers around New Zealand that "we are a real cherry orchard that is just as productive as they are".

Workers are still required regardless of a no-driver-needed option.

"They [employees] can handle the tasks this tractor can't do like pruning," he said.

"The majority of our staff come in at harvest time. That's because our cherries require handpicking. The tractor's not going to do any hand picking.

"There are certain things that are always going to require a human."

But operating this tractor might not be one of them.

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