The Past, Present and Future of Tractors

It’s hard to imagine a European farm without a tractor. But a few generations ago, most farmers had never even seen one. Discover how tractors have already transformed the world and how they will change the future.

In 2024, farmers and their tractors filled roads, motorways and city centres around Europe to protest against agricultural policies and unfair working conditions. The vehicles quickly became a symbol of the continent-wide protests due to their direct association with farming and rural Europe. After all, farming wouldn’t be what it is today - for good and bad - without these machines. But when did tractors enter the picture, how did they revolutionise farming, and how will innovations like no-till drills and plant-fuelled engines shape the future of food?

Tractors Divided Opinion Right From the Start 

Early tractors - powered by steam engines - sparked excitement among some farmers, while others saw them as noisy and disruptive. 

Left: An early steam-powered tractor pulls a plow, circa 1914. Right: Two farmers perch on a steam tractor, one tasked with filling the radiator with water, circa 1900. Photos via Getty.

 A 1915 article in Prairie Farmer called tractors the start of “a new epoch in farming, the farmer’s liberation from sole dependence on the weary horse, for from now on the horse will be supplemented by a power that can do the heavy work untiringly and on fuel that is cheaper than corn and oats.”¹

In other words – tractors are going to improve animal welfare, save you money, help you farm effectively, and change the world forever. Those are some big predictions, but did they come true?

Trading Horses and Mules for Tractors  

When tractors first appeared on farms in the late 1800s, their main appeal was replacing draft animals like horses and mules, which required land and resources for food and upkeep.

A horse, for example, typically needs two to three acres for grazing each year, cutting into farmland that could otherwise grow crops. Photo via Getty.

At first, tractors were mostly used in the USA, arriving in Europe after the First World War ended in 1918.^2,3

Switching to tractors freed up more land for crops and helped farmers work larger fields more efficiently. Early models handled basic tasks like ploughing, but new features soon made them more versatile. For example, John Deere's power lift, introduced in 1927, made it easier to raise and lower tools attached to the tractor.⁴

The introduction of rubber tyres in the 1930s made tractors even more useful by improving grip on the ground, allowing faster travel on roads. Rubber tyres also helped prevent the soil from being packed down too hard, making them suitable for more difficult conditions like regions with a lot of rain, which can make soils waterlogged. 

Tractors only really took off after World War II, when there weren't enough people to work on farms - so finding labourers was difficult and expensive. Tractors were particularly popular on larger farms as they were (and remain) expensive, so they made more financial sense on bigger plots of land.^5,4

More Farmland With Fewer Farmers: The Social Legacy of Tractors 

As tractors became more common, farming communities transformed. Fewer workers were needed on the land as machinery became more efficient, and small family farms struggled to compete with larger, more mechanised operations. In Spain, for example, the number of tractors skyrocketed from 52,000 in 1960 to 593,000 by 1983, which meant significantly more food. However, during this same period, about half a million small farms closed, partly because they couldn’t compete with large farms and their modern machinery.⁶

As smaller farms were sold off, many were merged into larger operations. Farming quickly became less of a family-centred occupation and more of an industrial operation. The modern tractor helped drive this transformation, allowing a single farmer to manage hundreds (if not thousands) of acres with minimal labour.^5,7

For some farmers, losing their jobs and family land was certainly a bad thing. At the same time, mechanisation has helped reduce our reliance on manual labour, enabling rural people more freedom to pursue education and alternative careers. According to the FAO, mechanisation improves productivity, eases labour shortages, and reduces the physical demands of farming. This remains important today, as ageing rural populations and worker shortages mean fewer hands to plant and harvest our crops.⁸

Fuel, Soil, and Monocultures: The Environmental Legacy of Tractors 

With the rise in farm size came the growth of monocultures—large areas planted with a single crop. The efficiency of tractors also encouraged the planting of cash crops (food grown to sell rather than to eat) like corn, wheat, and soybeans, which were easier to manage with machinery. 

This shift toward monoculture and cash crop farming still contributes to a loss of crop diversity and increased vulnerability to pests and diseases. It means we use more chemical inputs like fertilisers and pesticides, which play an important role in feeding the world, but also pollute our air and water - with negative impacts on human health and the environment.⁷  But we can’t realistically give up all chemical inputs and feed the world. One way farmers can reduce chemical inputs is with precision agriculture - using sensors which can help identify exactly how much fertiliser or pesticide crops need and adjust how much is being sprayed from the tractor as it passes through the field.

In lower-income countries, most farmers don’t have access to tractors. For example, in many African countries, less than 1% of farmers use tractors. Mechanisation could help increase yields to feed a growing population and lift people out of poverty - but to balance our need for food with a healthy planet, it’s more important than ever to make more sustainable technology financially accessible.

The weight of modern tractors can also compact the soil, reducing its ability to retain water and support plant roots. History has shown us how important it is to take care of our soil so we can keep growing food. Some historians argue that the widespread use of heavy machinery like tractors with deep ploughs contributed to the Dust Bowl of the 1930s - terrible drought and dust storms that made crops fail across the southern plains of the USA.⁵  We must take care of our soil by using machinery carefully and embracing innovations like no-till drills, which minimise soil disturbance. These machines plant seeds directly into the soil without the need for deep ploughing, offering a compromise between maintaining efficiency and preserving soil structure.  

Tractors initially relied on steam-powered engines powered by coal or wood. But as technology advanced, diesel engines became the standard. Diesel engines are more efficient and have benefited from technical improvements that reduce fuel consumption. However, with the increase in tractor power and the larger areas they now cover, total fuel consumption continues to grow. In the face of climate change and unstable diesel supply and prices, we now need to shift away from fossil-fuelled tractors.

What if Tractors Could be Fuelled by Plants? 

Agricultural machinery plays a big role in the carbon footprint of modern farming, with approximately 1% of total European greenhouse gas emissions coming from the fossil fuels burned for daily operations on the farm. But what if farmers could run their tractors on plant-based oils instead? This is the vision of ResiTrac, a project exploring tractors powered by 100% pure plant oil, such as rapeseed oil. While burning these oils still emits carbon dioxide, the rapeseed plants also absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere as they grow, helping to balance emissions.  

A shift to plant-fuelled tractors could reduce overall carbon emissions from farming. And if farmers can grow the fuel that their tractors need, they could become less dependent on fluctuating fossil fuel markets. This means they don’t have to pay a premium if prices rise, and we can become more self-sufficient – no longer relying on other nations for the energy behind our food. 

Led by John Deere, ResiTrac tractors are currently being trialled across Italy, Switzerland and Germany, with scientific backing from institutions like the Technology and Support Center (TFZ) in Straubing, Bern University of Applied Sciences and the Laimburg Research Centre. The goal is to match the reliability and efficiency of diesel tractors while allowing farmers to use plants they can grow locally. If successful, these trials could be one step towards reducing the environmental impact of the food we buy, making it easier for farms to shift away from fossil fuels without producing less food.

Lessons for the Future 

Today’s tractors are far more advanced than those featured in the 1915 Prairie Farmer issue. Modern tractor designs now incorporate GPS, precision farming tools, and sensors that monitor crop health and make farming more efficient. These innovations in farm equipment aim to tackle long-standing issues like high fuel use and soil damage. New developments, such as electric, biofuel, methane-powered, and self-driving tractors, are also being explored to reduce reliance on fossil fuels and make farming more efficient.⁹

However, the future of the tractor, like the future of agriculture, lies in striking a balance between productivity and sustainability. Farmers have a lot to manage—long days working to grow our food, trying to make enough money, caring for the land so it stays healthy for the future, and dealing with changing weather and complex rules and regulations. It’s never going to be an easy job, but machines can make it easier. And using new technology doesn’t have to mean forgetting old skills. If we combine the best of both, we can keep growing food while protecting the living planet.

Editor's Note: This article was created in collaboration with John Deere - with no financial incentive.