Carlo Mondavi
Monarch Tractor
Mondavi is a fourth-generation winegrower who has dedicated his life to permaculture, biodynamic, and regenerative farming practices, along with a hands-off winemaking approach in the cellar. Committed to farming in unison with nature, Mondavi began the Monarch Challenge in 2016 as a movement to bring awareness around dangerous chemicals used in agriculture. The Monarch Challenge is named after the monarch butterfly whose population has declined to near extinction due to harmful chemicals used in agriculture.
While the plight of the monarch butterflies inspired the Monarch Challenge, the movement’s goal is to protect the long-term health and viability of all pollinators by moving away from the widespread use of herbicides and dangerous pesticides. In doing so, the movement’s reach extends to all that is directly related to pollinator success — plants, forests, waterways, and animals, including humans. Without pollinators and thriving ecosystems, human health suffers. It was through hard conversations with fellow farmers in the early years that Mondavi realized there were insurmountable economic and climate-related obstacles facing the success of the Monarch Challenge unless innovation was made.
It was through this realization and desire to overcome the Monarch Challenge successfully that Mondavi met his fellow Monarch Tractor co-founders, Zachary Omohundro, PhD, Praveen Penmetsa, and Mark Schwager. Monarch Tractor brought the world’s first 100% electric, driver-optional, smart tractor, the MK-V, to market and is now manufacturing the MK-V at scale for a global reach.
As a co-founder and Monarch’s Chief Farming Officer, Mondavi brings a front-line farmer perspective and experience to Monarch Tractor. In addition to his roles at Monarch Tractor, he and his brother, Dante, are the proprietors of RAEN Winery and Mondavi is also the proprietor of Sori Della Sorba in Italy. Both farms are managed with biodynamic and regenerative farming practices along with hands-off winemaking in the cellar. Through his vineyards, his key role in Monarch Tractor, and his passion for fiscal and environmentally sustainable farming, Mondavi is helping farmers across the world understand that they no longer need to choose between profit and planet.
With Monarch we are doubling the farmer’s crop ability as we migrate away from the fossil fuel era of farming and into a beautiful renewably powered, chemical-free and more profitable era of farming. With renewables, farmers can harvest their own energy.
More Insights by Carlo Mondavi:
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Ever since June 1992, when 154 countries signed the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, an annual committee meeting, known as “Conference of the Parties,” or COP, has been held to discuss and make decisions...
Thinking about the future of the environment can leave a person feeling heavy with concern, but change makers are in action.
Monarch Tractor, a leader in AgTech innovation and the creator of the Monarch Tractor MK-V, the world’s first fully electric and driver-optional smart tractor, is making its entrance into the European market...
Farmers feed the world and Monarch Tractor is helping them do it. As a farmer-first company, it’s part of Monarch’s mission to bring sustainable and profitable AgTech solutions to the world’s farmers to benefit their farms...
Forbes named Monarch Tractor to its 2023 Next Billion-Dollar Startups list. Monarch's inclusion on the list as a future ag unicorn was based on its track record around growth and scalability...
Across two generations, the name Mondavi has become associated with advocacy and turning aspirations into reality. A June article in the New York Times touches on the similarities between Robert Mondavi and his grandson...
Just over 12 months ago, Monarch Tractor’s first customer, Constellation Brands, took ownership of six MK-V tractors. Since then, Monarch, a CES 2022 Innovation Award winner, has put more than 300 tractors into the hands of customers...
When you see a tractor chugging along in a field, all you hear is a noisy engine. But when the sounds are chirping birds and a breeze, that’s the sound of an electric tractor hard at work.
Farmers today are tasked with making a no-win decision. They can continue to use dangerous chemicals that damage human health, soils, water quality, and threaten pollinators with extinction.
Winemaker, viticulturist and chief farming officer are just a few ways one might know Carlo Mondavi, co-founder of Monarch Tractor, but one moniker remains unwavering, devoted supporter for regenerative and sustainable farming.
Written by Carlo Mondavi:
A Year of Excess: What Did All This Rain & Snow Mean for Our Farms
After years of unprecedented drought in California, this past winter delivered one like no other.
Apr 13, 2023
The Monarch Challenge Update 2023 | Earth Year
As The Monarch Challenge enters our eighth year, we pause to reflect on all the remarkable progress that has been made during this journey, and to express our gratitude to all those who have supported us on this important mission.
Jul 7, 2023
2023 Harvest Notes: A Year of Change
As the sun’s warmth sets on another agricultural year, farmers and communities in the Northern Hemisphere are celebrating the harvest of 2023.
Dec 23, 2023