MACHINERY

Monarch's MK-V Dairy Tractor Rolls Out Autonomous Feed Pushing

Wed, 05 Feb 2025 15:28:35 GMT

Monarch Tractor announces its first-in-class, fully-autonomous Autodrive feature is now commercially available on its MK-V driver-optional dairy tractor (EV or diesel) , according to a press release from the startup.

“Autonomous feed pushing offers value to dairy farmers by improving efficiency and increasing milk production,” says Praveen Penmetsa, CEO and co-founder of Monarch Tractor. “It allows the dairy farmers to focus on what matters most – the health and well-being of their animals.”

Autonomous feed pushing helps dairy farmers manage through labor shortages, and the ability to monitor feed pushing remotely while tending to other critical tasks ensures cows can be consistently fed every hour.

Additionally, the “smart tractor” is armed with Monarch’s Wingspan Ag Intelligence and WingspanAI technology stack , which tracks performance data while 360-degree cameras record video footage for real-time and historical insights. The MK-V Dairy is also a mobile power bank with 12v, 110v, and 220v plugs.

Monarch is hosting an in-person Autodrive demonstration at a working dairy on February 12, at 3 p.m. in Tulare, California, during World Ag Expo. Monarch reps and engineers will be on hand to talk to attendees and give them the opportunity to engage with the tractor. Reservations for the demonstration can be made here.

If you can’t make it to California next week, Monarch says dairy farmers can reach out and set up a demonstration at their farm.

Oh, Deer — What A Day on the Farm!

Fri, 22 Nov 2024 20:03:01 GMT

Deer are both majestic and maddening. They make for an exciting pursuit during hunting season, but they also wreak havoc on vehicles, tires and fields.

With approximately 36 million deer in the U.S., those who call rural America home know deer-vehicle collisions are common, especially in October, November and December. Based on this November 2022 study , around 2.1 million deer-vehicle collisions occur annually, causing more than $10 billion in economic losses.

According to State Farm annual analysis , the top 10 states for animal collision, of which deer are the leading cause, are:

West Virginia
Montana
Michigan
Pennsylvania
Wisconsin
Mississippi
Iowa
South Dakota
Virginia
Rhode Island

A Farm Journal reader shared this run-in with a buck.

Deer – semi collision

(Farm Journal)

The Buck Stops Here
In addition to vehicle damage, unsuspecting tractor tires are often no match for deer sheds hiding in fields. Can you relate to these photos shared by fellow farmers?

Deer shed in tire

(Farm Journal)

Deer shed in tire

(Farm Journal)

Deer sheds in tires

(Farm Journal)

If you’ve had one of those horrible, no good, very bad days, or captured someone else’s, share it with Farm Journal. Whether you picked up a deer shed or sunk a piece of machinery in a mudhole, email images to whataday@farmjournal.com.

Shoo Deer — Not In My Field

Deer are a real pest when they graze, trample and bed down in crop fields. Depending on your crop’s stage, this can have economic consequences.

“Deer will feed on immature corn tassel tissue in the whorl during mid- to late-June and also on developing ears in early- to mid-August at the milk stage,” says Bob Nieslen, a retired Purdue University Extension corn specialist. “The decapitated plants usually survive, and ear development will continue through pollination and on to maturity, though the ears are usually less than full size.”

Thieves In Search of Antler Treasure
Awaiting the annual guarantee of antler drop in late winter or early spring, thieves hop private property lines to steal from those who manage. Lust or greed, the lure of shed treasure is a powerful pull to the public, despite purple paint, posted signs and fences.

Whitetail legend Steve Snow is on alert for shed poachers. Like a hot-nose coonhound, he zigzags through timber looking for fresh boot prints — the telltale sign someone is up to no good.

Snow is in hot pursuit of stolen sheds — a dose of frontier justice.

READ: Monster Deer Madness: Iowa Farmer Nabs Antler Thieves, Busts Multistate Shed Ring

Monster Buck Finds Its Way Back Home
Speaking of thieves, when 14-year-old Dave Richmond’s monster buck was stolen , he never gave up hope finding the spectacular rack. Following 14 years of cold-nosing dead-end trails, Richmond was stunned to receive an anonymous message: “I know where your deer is.”

Dumbfounded, Richmond was unable to accept the claim: “Impossible. Just no way. I figured it had to be someone pranking me.”

Two days later, he received a second message, along with an unmistakable photo.

“The picture told it all,” Richmond says. “I was looking at my deer.”

Welcome to a tale of deceit trumped by the enduring faith of a 14-year-old.

Dave Richmond recovers stolen deer antlers

(Photo by Whitetail Obsession Outdoors)

READ: Monster Buck Antlers Stolen from Teen Deer Hunter Recovered After 14 Years

Leap of Faith As Farmer Miraculously Escapes Burning Chopper

Tue, 19 Nov 2024 13:23:16 GMT

Burn in fire or die by electrocution? Stranded on the catwalk of a corn chopper engulfed in flames and wrapped in the deafening hum of 140,000 volts, J.P. Koop leaped into a crackling halo of current. Crashing into a smoking row of freshly cut stalks on super-heated ground, Koop’s body went to jelly on impact, electricity surging through his limbs. On hands and knees, the Michigan farmer made the crawl of his life—a bid to escape a deathtrap.

His incredible survival has no room for chance, Koop insists. Five hours prior, his crew sought protection: “We prayed for safety. We asked God to watch over us with full expectation that He’d meet our genuine need. That’s exactly what happened and I’m here to bear witness because there is no other explanation.”

Walk The Wire

On a Thursday morning, Sept. 12, 2024, Lucky 7 Dairy, helmed by Koop, approached harvest kickoff: corn was ready. Featuring 3,000 acres of light, fertile soil and 2,000 Holsteins set in the hilly topography of upper Michigan’s Missaukee County, Lucky 7 prepared for an ideal day of fieldwork: bright and breezy, low humidity, and a high expected in the upper 70s.

Just before tucking into a homemade breakfast, roughly 14 members of the harvest team—truck and tractor operators—gathered beside the Lucky 7 shop for a safety meeting and final emphasis on awareness. At the conclusion, Koop asked neighboring farmer Mike Bosscher to lead a safety prayer.

At the touch of chute to power line, 140,000 volts welded metal on metal and ignited a hail of sparks.

(Photo by Lucky 7 Dairy)

“We bowed our heads and Mike prayed in a sincere manner for God’s hand to be over all of us,” Koop recalls. “We asked in full expectation and we meant every word.”

A relative newcomer (six years) to the dairy industry after a lifetime spent around machinery as a long-hauling veteran and a 130-truck business carrying produce between California and Michigan, Koop had never experienced a major accident. He was about to walk a wire.

Ride Lightning

In work boots and Wranglers, Koop, 58, climbed the ladder of a forage harvester crowned by a distinctive, arched chute, and drove toward 80 acres of green corn to start the field opening process and cut enough space to ensure loading trucks had room to receive silage.

On its northern side, the field was rimmed by a main road and parallel power line suspended roughly 14’ high. “Every field is different,” Koop says, “but most everyone deals with frequent power poles and power lines, whether on the side or even in the middle of a field. You’ve got to stay alert to exactly where they’re at, but on this day, I reacted too late.”

“There was no rotating or getting away,” describes Koop. “I spun around and saw the chute sparking, and the heat just made it stick to the wire even more.”

(Photo by Lucky 7 Dairy)

Rolling at 5 miles per hour, Koop completed an outer pass of the field, and began a second revolution, with the power line directly to his left, and operator Denny Kamphouse driving a tractor and wagon to his right.

Koop’s two-way crackled: “Hey, you’re getting close to that line,” Kamphouse warned.

At roughly 16’ in the air alongside the low-lying power line, Koop’s chute bobbed like a crow’s nest. He tried to adjust. Too late.

Time to ride lightning.

Volts or Flames?

Supernova. At the touch of chute to power line, 140,000 volts welded metal on metal and ignited a hail of sparks, blowing the chute’s hydraulic cylinder and igniting the chopper tires.

“I should have died,” emphasizes Koop. “Cracking. Popping. Booming. Buzzing. The chopper was gone, burnt up.”

(Photo by Lucky 7 Dairy)

“There was no rotating or getting away. I spun around and saw the chute sparking, and the heat just made it stick to the wire even more.”

Koop shut off the chopper and took stock, his ears drowning under an overwhelming hum of surging electricity.

Seconds. Flashes. Family. Decisions. Calculations. Questions. Risk a step onto the steel catwalk? Dare to remain in the cab? Descend the ladder? Wait for the power line to short out?

As the back tires blew and the chopper rocked, Koop opened the cab door to his left and scrambled onto the platform, enveloped by smoke and the heat of expanding flames. “I didn’t know where to go or what to do, but I knew once those back rims were touching the ground, I’d be electrocuted. Think. Think. Think. Seconds were going by as I stood there and tried to gather my options. It was a major power line so it had no breaker and wasn’t going out. Also, I couldn’t go down the steps because sparks were flying out of them.”

Remains of a flames—Koop’s burnt-out YETI cup.

(Photo by Lucky 7 Dairy)

Looking down, Koop stared at cut corn rows belching smoke from pulsing current. Looking behind, Koop eyeballed a silage harvester in meltdown. Volts to the front; flames to the back.

Koop made his choice. He didn’t want to burn.

Dead Man Walking

In a frozen moment beyond the incessant buzzing and mounting heat, Koop found clarity. “Images were flashing across my mind and heart, but all of a sudden, in the middle of all that chaos, I hung on one clear thought. If I died, and no matter how I died, I knew where I was going because Jesus saved me from my sins and had given me the grace to stand before God.”

“That split second recognition came in a freeze frame that settled everything and took away my fear. I’ll jump. I’ll push out as far as my body will let me and maybe get far enough away from the current’s ripple effect to survive.”

“I’m blessed with my wife, Suzanne, who took such good care of me,” says Koop. “I have seven wonderful kids. I have a story to tell about how God protected me.”

(Photo by Lucky 7 Dairy)

Koop climbed on the handrail, balanced on the metal bar almost 10’ high, bent his legs, and pushed off with the kick of every muscle fiber in his 58-year-old body.

“I hit the ground, fell forward, and felt my body getting electrified. I couldn’t stand up or control my legs, but I could move on 100% adrenaline and I started crawling, trying to get out of the ripple effect before it killed me. It was such a weird sensation to feel the current blowing through me. I could feel it especially in my hands and knees, but it wasn’t painful.”

Roughly 20’ later, Koop crawled out of the ripples to safety. He stood up, ran around the chopper to get away from the power lines, and collapsed in an adjacent ditch, from where he was carried by Lucky 7 crew members to a neighbor’s yard.

No wounds or burns from electricity or flames. Miraculous, Koop insists. “I should have died. Cracking. Popping. Booming. Buzzing. The chopper was gone, burnt up. All the liquids superheated. All the aluminum melted and pooled on the ground. The cab exploded and blew glass everywhere. Tires gone. Steel was the only thing left behind.”

With a heart rate pumping off the charts and a heel sore from the jump impact, Koop was taken to a hospital. “The power company guys wanted to meet me before we left. They said they’d never seen anyone walk away from this kind of accident.”

“We prayed for safety,” says Koop. “We asked God to watch over us with full expectation that He’d meet our genuine need.”

(Photo by Lucky 7 Dairy)

Four hours after arriving, Koop was released from the hospital. He used the next day to rest and ease muscles sore from intense flexing during voltage conductivity. Two days after tapping 140,000 volts, he was back in a chopper (Thursday to Saturday).

Lucky 7 notwithstanding, Koop does not believe in luck. “There was nothing random about my survival. If chance was involved, I’d be a dead man right now.”

The Witness

Koop’s near-death accident has elevated safety concerns to the top rung of daily farm activity. “See something, speak up, and question it, regardless of your role. We all feel the fragility of life on a farm, and my mistake has increased our awareness to the highest level where it has to stay. I can say it simply, ‘I now know where all power lines are at all times.’”

Koop attributes his survival to Providence: “I’m here to bear witness because there is no other explanation.”

(Photo by Lucky 7 Dairy)

Why was Koop spared?

“I only know I’m supposed to bear witness. For the rest of my life, I’ll use this to talk about God’s Providence,” he adds. “I’m blessed with my wife, Suzanne, who took such good care of me. I have seven wonderful kids. I have a story to tell about how God protected me.”

For more from Chris Bennett (@ChrisBennettMS or cbennett@farmjournal.com or 662-592-1106), see:

Corn and Cocaine: Roger Reaves and the Most Incredible Farm Story Never Told

Cottonmouth Farmer: The Insane Tale of a Buck-Wild Scheme to Corner the Snake Venom Market

Bagging the Tomato King: The Insane Hunt for Agriculture’s Wildest Con Man

Ghost in the House: A Forgotten American Farming Tragedy

Priceless Pistol Found After Decades Lost in Farmhouse Attic

Bizarre Mystery of Mummified Coon Dog Solved After 40 Years

American Gothic: Farm Couple Nailed In Massive $9M Crop Insurance Fraud

Evil Grain: The Wild Tale of History’s Biggest Crop Insurance Scam

Fleecing the Farm: How a Fake Crop Fueled a Bizarre $25 Million Ag Scam

The Arrowhead Whisperer: Stunning Indian Artifact Collection Found on Farmland

Skeleton In the Walls: Mysterious Arkansas Farmhouse Hides Civil War History

Deere Revamps 6M Tractors For Comfort, Visibility And Maneuverability

Fri, 20 Nov 2020 05:51:35 GMT

Farmers and livestock producers in the market for a tractor offering high degrees of comfort, visibility, maneuverability and technology will find those benefits and more in the redesigned John Deere 6M Tractors for 2020, available in eight cab models and in a horsepower range of 110 to 195.

“Because of their compact size, wide horsepower range and versatility, the 6M tractors have been a popular power choice for a variety of dairy, livestock, hay and diversified ag customers, as well as roadside mowing and property maintenance, and other off-farm tasks such as snow removal,” says Lyle McMillan, marketing manager for John Deere 6 Family Tractors.

New Cab Style
McMillan says in conversations with farmers during the past few years, improved tractor cab comfort and increased features have been at the top of the list of their requests. In response, the Deere 6M family series cab is newly styled and includes a digital corner post display for improved visibility of machine functions. Options include a panoramic roof, which provides a larger viewing area.

Thoughtful Hood Design
The first thing farmers and livestock producers are likely to notice when they see the updated 6110M and 6120M tractors is their new, sloped-down hood design, which improves operators’ visibility by an extra 7.3’ over previous models, says Archie Oestreich, senior marketing representative for John Deere.

“Whether you have a loader on the tractor or not, you can see the nose,” he says. “If you’re moving bales with a loader you can tell not only where the front end of that tractor is but the front of the bale, too.”

A second benefit to the 6110M and 6120M tractors is their increased maneuverability. Oestreich says Deere shortened the wheel base from 101½” to 94½” on both models to give customers a tighter turning radius. “If you’re moving bales or stacking bales inside a barn, you often need to turn on a dime and these tractors do that. They also work great in small pastures where you need to move in and out of them easily,” he notes.

“We’ve also improved ride quality on these two models, thanks to optional front-axle suspension and cab/loader suspension systems,” McMillan adds. “The 6110M and 6120M may be the most versatile haying, feeding and all-around chore tractors we have on the market, ideal for many different types of on-farm and off-farm chores, and these changes make them an even better fit.”

Intelligent Power Management
McMillan notes that with the 6110, 6120, 6130 and 6140 models, farmers will benefit from what Deere calls its Intelligent Power Management (IPM). “They have a 20 hp boost in PTO or high-speed applications. So you get more of a power punch and horsepower on demand when you need it most,” he says. He adds that the revamped 140-hp 6140M “addresses a sweet-spot in size, horsepower and capabilities that is most often requested by livestock producers and diversified ag operations.”

Other optional new features for the 6M Series Tractors that add to operator comfort and performance include a compact CommandARM for fingertip machine and implement control; up to four electronic selective control valves (E-SCVs); and front hitch and PTO for mounting and operating front-end equipment, according to a John Deere news release.

The new PowrReverser button on the joystick allows operators to change direction of travel without taking their hands off the steering wheel or loader joystick, and the optional hydraulic remote implement latch makes switching loader attachments easier and faster without leaving the cab.

Loader-Ready
Machines can be ordered loader-ready from the factory and matched with the John Deere 600R Loader. These loaders are designed to be small enough to match the design of the new 6110/6120M tractors and include more LED lights, a curved boom and underslung leveling links that improve overall loader performance for all types of operations. The 600R Loaders have over 4,100 pounds (1,860kg) of lift capacity and 154 inches (3.9m) of lift height with cycle time of less than 6 seconds.

New technology also is available on the 6M models for customers who want the precision guidance, telematics and other features often found in larger or higher spec tractors. This includes factory-installed AutoTrac guidance, available for the first time on the small-frame models, which is a great productivity-enhancing feature for customers using front-mounted and side mowing equipment. Another technology option available is JDLink telematics for fleet management, service updates and maintenance alerts.

“The 6M Tractors can be ordered with front hitch and PTO, which makes them much more versatile in operating equipment such as snow blowers, front-mounted mowers with rear side-pulls and other front-mounted and powered attachments customers may have,” McMillan notes. “All these new features and options, especially the PowrReverser on the loader joystick and integrated AutoTrac guidance, will be popular with many customers and help make the 6M Tractors the most advanced, productive and durable utility tractor in this category.”

For more information on the full line of 6 Family Tractors, contact your local John Deere dealer or visit JohnDeere.com.