Here’s a roundup of the latest events CEMA participated to, and interesting videos to watch during your Christmas break.
CEMA explains how 5G can revolutionize agriculture
The European agricultural machinery industry is looking forward to 5G. As part of the efforts by the European Commission to promote digitization, the European Broadband Competence Offices Network’s contacted CEMA to discuss how the additional features of 5G will allow many environmentally friendly precision farming processes become a reality. The programme aims to promote awareness of good practices in broadband projects as well as EU broadband funding and policy.
How did it go? Watch the video below!
See more videos in the series: http://videos.bconetwork.eu. Find out more on the European Commission’s 5G strategy: https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/policies/5g
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SG speaks at Off-road powertrain event
CEMA’s Secretary General Jerome Bandry took part to the webinar “Off-road powertrain. Is it multitasking (or not anymore?)” organized on 15th November by Powertrain Diesel International.
Mr. Bandry presented the position of CEMA on the important topic of CO2 reduction from fuel use. He argued that there are two main routes to achieve it: the use of alternative fuels and alternative drives (i.e. electric drives), or the increase of energy efficiency by optimised use of machinery within the process of growing crops.
On the first option, Mr Bandry argued that given the characteristics of the agricultural machinery sector, large-scale electrification is not expected to happen before 2030. More is instead expected from alternative and synthetic fuels that can also be used in the legacy European fleet. This solution might also be cheaper for farmers since alternative fuels like pure rapeseed oil, or bio-methane for the agricultural fleet can be produced on farm/within the agricultural areas and be part of the business model to compensate CO2 production in other sectors (including carbon farming).
As for the second option, Mr. Bandry explained that fuel efficiency is a long-term priority for the sector. The real opportunity now is best practice for fuel efficiency over the whole production process, and technical solutions for CO2 sequestration. Digital transformation and adoption of smart technologies are key to this since they can support farmers to become more sustainable while remaining competitive. He brought forward the results of the EkoTech project showing that innovative machinery, intelligent process control and modern operating concepts can considerably reduce yield-related fuel consumption against conventional processes, offering fuel savings of up to 40 per cent.
To review the full intervention you can click HERE.
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Ivo Hostens participates at FIRA
On 9th December CEMA Technical Director Ivo Hostens took part to a workshop within World FIRA, the Agricultural Robotics Forum on the topic “Legislation: Am I allowed to use a robot on my farm?”. The panellists included Dr. Hostens, Mikhail Simonov (Policy officer on the Machinery Directive at the European Commission), Curt Blades (Senior Vice President of AEM, the US Association of Equipment Manufacturers) and Rohan Rainbow (Consultant Advisor of Grain Producers Australia).
Starting from the legal aspect of the issue, Mr. Simonov explained the new Machinery Directive proposal and how it addresses new risks related to emerging digital technologies by adapting the requirements for manufacturers to put machines on the market, including safety requirements. Dr. Hostens argued that the machinery directive has already meant a lot for robotics in Europe, as its self-certification process has allowed for safe experimentation in the field and for lighter administration requirements. This in turn has turn the sector in a dynamic one with many small manufacturers entering the market and stimulating innovation.
The market aspect of robotics innovation was also developed, and interventions by Mr. Blades and Mr. Rainbow presented the situations both in the United States and in Australia, where no comparable legislation to the machinery directive exists. They explained how, especially in the last two years, innovation towards automation was pushed by labour shortage in their countries and which solutions are being investigated. A global approach to these discussions is very useful and important for manufacturers since it allows for exchanges on the developments and improvements on the technologies, as well as the understanding of how risks can be better managed.
The interventions will be available on the FIRA Platform until June 2022: https://www.fira-agtech.com/event/fira
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AFCC invites you to Farm to Fork event on 27th January
The Agri-food chain coalition is glad to announce it is sponsoring the Euractiv event “Farm to Fork strategy – what are the policy instruments needed to reach the targets?” which will take place virtually on 27th January 2022.
Registrations are open at this LINK.
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Agrievolution releases its first Newsletter!
The Agrievolution Alliance has released its first newsletter, which includes a contribution by CEMA.
You can read the newsletter, a rich compilation of global agriculture equipment news, at this LINK.