Electric harvester first of its kind in New Zealand
A New Zealand company’s search for new ways to farm for a healthier future while also helping reduce carbon emissions, has resulted in the delivery of a unique electric harvester.
The electric harvester and two selfpropelled cargo platforms will operate in LeaderBrand’s new 11ha “mega greenhouse” in Gisborne. The Hortech eco-slide electric harvester and Hortech cargo platform are both the first of their kind in New Zealand and were specifically designed to suit LeaderBrand’s indoor environment and cropping system with quality, and accuracy.
The company’s General Manager of Farming, Gordon McPhail, says reducing emissions, fuel and oil, as well as finding new ways to farm sustainably and with new technology, is an important focus for LeaderBrand.
“We're always looking for different ways we can be more climate-friendly, and this is another step in the right direction. It’s also great for the safety of our team as the electric harvester is less noisy than our diesel engines, helping to improve communication and safety for our teams in the greenhouse. “The greenhouse is the right environment for us to trial and test if electric equipment will work in our business. In fact, we designed the front packhouse of the facility with electric harvesters in mind, getting the wiring and outlets built into the greenhouse before we’d commissioned the equipment,” he says.
"With overnight charging we can get a solid 12-hour run time on the harvester which is more than enough power to get us through the day which suits our busy team perfectly.”
Technology and innovation continue to advance the use of electricity-powered machines, particularly in controlled environments, but there is still a lot of research needed around scenarios involving work in the open field situation with variable workloads and potential to be far away from charging stations, McPhail adds. He says the team will continue to keep up to date with industry experts and look for opportunities that make sense for their business environment.
LeaderBrand was awarded an EECA grant which has helped with some of the cost of investing in the electric harvester.