Less gas can mean more real meat and milk
Cattle are in the forefront of the accused in the “harmful” emissions trial. Instead of trying to resolve the issue by replacing meat and milk with artificial products, researchers are finding ways for cattle to release less gas.
In a cow’s rumen, microbes help break down food. This releases hydrogen and carbon dioxide. An enzyme combines these gases to form methane. Bovaer® is a feed supplement that suppresses the enzyme, so less methane gets generated. Just a quarter teaspoon in a cow’s daily feed takes effect in as little as 30 minutes. As it acts, Bovaer® is safely broken down into compounds already naturally present in the rumen.
On average, it reduces emissions from dairy cows by 30% and from beef cattle by 45%.
Bovaer (3-NOP) has just secured the regulatory green light for use in lactating dairy cattle in the US. It was developed by DSM-Firmenich, and commercialised by animal health partner Elanco. It is now commercially available in 64 countries with additional approvals expected this year.
The companies are now pushing for Bovaer users to benefit from carbon credits, saying it will make up for any additional feed costs.
Elanco’s VP for livestock sustainability, Katie Cook, says Elanco has been instrumental in helping to put an incentive system in place, “creating a self-sustaining carbon inset market for American agriculture”.
Speaking to AgFunderNews after the FDA gave Bovaer the green light, Katie said Elanco has developed tools that help both quantify methane emission reductions and generate carbon credits.
“Uplook is an online tool that helps to quantify greenhouse gas emission reductions. It utilises on-farm data and peer-reviewed science to identify the key drivers of an operation’s carbon footprint, and then tracks the progress of sustainability efforts such as using Bovaer.
“If you look at the overall value proposition today, it is about a $20 return or more annually per lactating dairy cow that the producer would get for feeding Bovaer.” (Source: AgFunderNews)
Clean energy lab for AGCO Power
Kelvin Bennett, AGCO’s Senior Vice President of Engineering, at one of the advanced engines they are testing.
Kelvin Bennett, AGCO’s Senior Vice President of Engineering, at one of the advanced engines they are testing.
AGCO Power opened its clean energy laboratory. The lab is part of a €70 million investment (approximately $77 million) in the Linnavuori plant in Nokia, Finland, and will support development and testing of innovative, sustainable battery and powertrain solutions for farm machinery.
The Linnavuori team of scientists and engineers are developing next-generation engines powered by low or zero carbon electricity and alternative fuels, such as hydrogen and methanol, that will help minimise global agricultural emissions.
While the number of hybrid and electric vehicles on world roadways has grown exponentially in the 21st century, adoption of alternative power for off-road or farm machinery has lagged. The capacity of existing battery technologies restricts the size of fully electric farm machinery, but the AGCO Power lab is working to change that paradigm.
“We are investing heavily in the research and development of multiple lower carbon technologies, such as the electrification of off-road machines and hybrids,” said Kelvin Bennett, AGCO’s Senior Vice President of Engineering. “It is exciting to know these investments will start showing tangible results this summer when AGCO’s first fully electric tractor, the Fendt e100 V Vario, enters production in 2024.“
In addition to the off-road machine emissions, AGCO is aggressively pursuing reductions in emissions in its own operations. Specifically, it has set objectives to reduce its Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions with 55% by 2033 and 90% by 2050.
In addition to the clean energy laboratory, the Linnavuori plant features new production facilities for both cylinder heads and continuously variable transmission components, expansions to the paint shop and testing facilities for remanufactured engines, and a training and visitor centre. In total, the new buildings cover 11 000 square metres with some phases of the project opening this year and others set to be operational in 2025. (source: World Agritech.com)
In the meantime, back at Marktoberdorf in Germany, the 100 000th Fendt 700 Vario recently left the factory floor.
Fendt 700 Vario Gen7: Number 100 000 was just built.
The Vario transmission is the key feature which turned AGCO subsidiary Fendt from a modest German manufacturer with mainly customers in Europe, to a major player on the global tractor market. First introduced in 1998, recently the 100 000th Gen7 Fendt 700 Vario tractor was built in its home city Marktoberdorf in Germany.
Since its launch, currently the seventh generation of the Fendt Vario 700 is on the market. “As an all-rounder, the 700 series is the VW Golf on the tractor market, so to speak,” says Chairman of the Fendt management board, Christoph Gröblinghoff.
“The Vario has evolved over the years in order to fulfil ever-increasing demands: More power, less fuel consumption, more manoeuvrable and even more comfortable. To make the tractor even better, that was and is the aspiration of our developers.”
The special 100 000th tractor will be on display at the Holiday Weeks at the Fendt Forum visitor centre in Marktoberdorf. Onwards, the jubilee tractor will go on tour to trade fairs in France, Italy and other countries.
Give your grapes a good go with PinPoint RTK
VineView, a data analytics company offering data-driven solutions to optimising vineyards, recently launched its PinPoint RTK Handheld GPS receiver. Aimed at vineyard operators, the PinPoint RTK is specifically designed for precise field data collection, offering accuracy through Real-Time Kinematic (RTK) technology.
With an accuracy of 2 to 5 cm, it outperforms traditional GPS receivers, which typically have an accuracy of 2 to 4 metres. With its rugged design and programmable buttons, it is a companion for any type of field work where spatial data is collected. Combined with the VineView mobile app, it allows tracking information at the individual plant level.
The result is accurate field data collection, allowing vineyard operators to build precise maps for the most informed decision-making and planning. This includes tracking production, disease mapping, yield estimation and asset tracking. Vineyard managers can use these maps as tools to plan how many rootstocks to purchase for the following season, to track disease over time to determine when to pull a field, sending employees to exact locations for replants, and more.
VineView’s PinPoint RTK has been designed to be ultra-portable, durable, and is water resistant, ensuring reliability in demanding weather conditions. Designed with three programmable buttons, users are able to specify what data they want to collect at the touch of a button.
The PinPoint RTK connects seamlessly with the VineView app (available on both Android and iOS), allowing users to take and track notes with accuracy up to 2 cm.
No signal, no problem. The PinPoint RTK works when there is no data connection to ensure that no matter where you are, you can still operate. (Source: FutureFarming)
