Rock The
JOHN DEERE 8RX Star
JOHN DEERE’S NEW 8RX TRACTOR IS SO
LIGHT ON ITS FEET THAT IT IMPROVES SOIL
QUALITY, THEREBY INCREASING YIELDS
“Soil is a farmer’s most critical asset,” says Simon
Schowalter, John Deere’s product manager for large
tractors in the EU. “If the farmer treats the soil well the soil
will treat them well. We call the 8RX the soil specialist. It is
our rock star.”
There aren’t many industrial machines that can carry off
the term, ‘rock star’ but then the four-track 8RX is no
ordinary machine. If through deployment of the 8RX you
were to predict a conservative yield increase of 2-3%, that
equates to roughly €50 in additional revenue per hectare.
“That means an additional yield revenue for a farm
operating a thousand hectares of €50,000 per year,” says
Schowalter.
These are impressive numbers, which in turn beg the
question: how are they achieved? The answer is that the
8RX is a reimagining of the tractor, even a reinvention,
developed from scratch.
“An F1 car is designed from first nut to last bolt to
perform on the racetrack,” says Schowalter. “The 8RX is the
same. It’s not just an 8R tractor where we removed the
wheels and bolted on some tracks. It was built from the
bottom up. This machine is designed to deliver in the field
and protect the soil. Now look at my feet.”
iVTInternational.com February 2020 49
DAVE FRANCIOSY FARMING PHOTOGRAPHY
/iVTInternational.com