California winegrowers represent one of Monarch’s earliest customer partnerships. With roughly one year of use behind them, vineyard directors, farm managers, and tractor operators have openly shared how the MK-V is helping them create a healthier, more profitable farm environment. And now, this 100% electric, driver-optional, smart tractor has arrived in Oregon wine country.
Forbes took notice. In interviews with Nicolas-Jay Estate co-founders, Burgundian winemaker Jean-Nicolas Méo and music entrepreneur Jay Boberg, as well as Monarch Tractor co-founder and Chief Farming Officer, Carlo Mondavi, Forbes author, Jill Barth, covered how Oregon winemakers are embracing new AgTech for a more balanced, productive farming environment.
Leading the Pack
With its benchmark level Burgundy wines, Nicolas-Jay Estate became the first Oregon vineyard to purchase and deploy Monarch’s MK-V. Nicolas-Jay Estate is representative of Oregon wine country, which is filled with world-class producers who recognize the critical role environmental health and sustainable ag practices have on their livelihood.
Barth reports that Boberg believes the MK-V supports Nicolas-Jay Estate’s mission to be environmentally responsible, but also feels the electric tractor’s technology is impressive and easy to use.
Literally anyone can drive this tractor and perform basic tasks.
Jay Boberg, Co-founder, Nicolas-Jay Estate
Boberg emphasized how the powerful illumination of the MK-V’s work lights is an especially valuable feature for night picks. It’s a shared sentiment, as many Napa winegrowers have expressed how the tractor’s work lights ensure safer, easier, and more efficient nighttime harvesting operations. There are additional benefits as the MK-V’s connectivity transforms the tractor into the centerpiece of gathering and communicating data. The electric tractor’s battery, with a runtime of 14 hours or more depending on farm, operation, and implement, also serves as a portable energy storage device, bringing power to tools in other parts of the vineyard.
Sustaining Agriculture with Sustainable Ag
Forbes reports that roughly half of Oregon’s vineyards have either achieved certification for sustainable agriculture or are in the process of doing so. The MK-V’s AgTech supports these farming priorities in two key ways; energy independence and reduction of herbicide use.
An electric tractor helps a farmer shift from dependence on diesel and its associated costs to energy independence through renewables. Renewable energy aside, the cost to charge an electric tractor like the MK-V through the grid still represents significant cost savings and return on investment for a farmer.
The second attraction, Barth points out, comes from the pairing of Monarch’s AI stack and autonomous capabilities. A tractor capable of mowing autonomously opens up mowing as a financially viable alternative to herbicides. And because it’s an electric tractor, mowing with more frequency does not increase toxic diesel emissions.
Farmers benefit from the reduction of herbicides, saving big money while also helping improve their soil microbiome, water health, and overall farm biology.
Carlo Mondavi, Chief Farming Officer & Co-founder, Monarch Tractor
In addition to lowering operation costs, the MK-V’s autonomous technology helps farms with greater efficiencies in costs and time across labor, reporting, tractor maintenance, and overall farm management as well as creating a safer work environment for tractor operators and fieldhands.
Pacific Northwestern Exposure
While Monarch Tractor reached many milestones and sold hundreds of MK-V tractors during its first year on the market in 2023, entering Oregon is just part of its greater expansion story that includes sales reps and dealers dedicated to this region. For many Pacific Northwest vintners, according to Forbes, their first experience with the MK-V came at the International Pinot Noir Celebration in July, held in McMinnville, Oregon.
This tractor is on the cutting edge of new technology and is important not just for its practical use, but also as a beacon of change in agriculture.
Jay Boberg, Co-founder, Nicolas-Jay Estate
Monarch Tractor envisions having Monarch MK-Vs in operation across the planet’s fruit and vegetable farms. Such numbers can support profitable farms and healthier farm environments, which at scale, can improve quality of farms, consumer wellness, and a thriving, nutritious food ecosystem across the planet. The motivation for growth, as Mondavi expressed to Forbes, is not revenue but impact. In Oregon, these numbers are just getting started.
