New Holland Agriculture, Bennamann Ltd and local dealer Truro Tractors have been awarded the prestigious Gold Medal Award for the machinery competition at the 2023 Royal Cornwall Show, for the T6.180 Methane Power Tractor.
L-R: George Mills, CNHI alternative fuels manager UK / ROI / Nordics; Jon Stephens dealer principal, Truro Tractors; Grant Crawford, Bennamann technical sales lead
The award is promoted by the Royal Cornwall Agricultural Association, which is also the organiser of the Royal Cornwall Show, which attracted 118,000 visitors this year.
The aim of the event, say organisers, is to promote high standards in agriculture, support Cornwall's agricultural industry and stimulate development through demonstrations of good practice and new ideas.
The machinery competition, recognises machinery, implements and appliances that encourage innovation and which specifically make an impact to the agricultural economy of Cornwall.
A key factor for the achievement of the Gold Medal Award, said the judges, was the unique technology integration between the New Holland T6 Methane Power tractor and Bennamann’s solution. The judges commented that they believe, “This technology will change public perception of Dairy farming being part of the problem (with greenhouse gas emissions) to being part of the solution”.
The core technology receiving the award has been developed by Bennamann and enables farms to fully capture, process and use the fugitive emissions from their livestock manure slurry, turning agricultural waste into biomethane as well as a range of off-take by-products, including biofertiliser and bio-CO2. By using these technologies on a farm, say Bennamann, the resulting outputs can significantly reduce the site’s carbon footprint and, additionally, be distributed locally to help establish net zero outcomes more broadly.
New Holland’s contribution comes with theT6.180 Methane Power Tractor, which is the only methane fuelled tractor in the market. The manufacturer says the tractor's behaviour and performance is the same level as its diesel equivalent, with overall emission levels equating to 80% less than a diesel tractor when running on fossil gas.
