Finnish tractor brand Valtra, a leading AGCO brand, is working in collaboration with Neste and AGCO Finance to help farmers reduce their carbon footprint by increasing the awareness and availability of Neste MY Renewable Diesel for farmers. Valtra is the first tractor factory in the world to fill its new tractors with Neste MY Renewable Diesel.  

Approximately 25% of global carbon emissions come from food production. Legislation and increased consumer awareness around sustainability are driving transformation across global food production systems. Valtra believes it can best help farmers meet their sustainability goals by supporting their productivity and profitability through easy-to-use smart farming technology, efficient machines, data insights and the use of non-fossil diesel. Running a tractor on Neste MY Renewable Diesel can reduce a farmer’s machinery’s greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) as much as 75-95%* over the fuel’s lifecycle when compared with fossil diesel.  

“It is likely that a range of power sources will be available to farmers in the future,” said Mikko Lehikoinen, Vice President Marketing Valtra EME. “For lower to mid-range horsepower machines electrification and hydrogen fuel options may be suitable. However, for higher horsepower tractors the internal combustion engine is likely to remain most suitable, due to the power demands of the machine. These could be run on fossil or renewable diesel such as Neste MY Renewable Diesel.”

“Neste and AGCO are collaborating to improve access to renewable fuel through distribution partners. In addition, farmers will have access to funding that reduces the capital cost of purchasing Neste MY Renewable Diesel compared to using fossil fuel, thus greatly increasing farmers’ access to this more sustainable fuel,” he continues.

Neste MY Renewable Diesel for farmers

Neste MY Renewable Diesel is made from 100% renewable raw materials such as used cooking oil or animal fat from food industry waste. Neste MY Renewable Diesel outperforms fossil fuels at extremely low temperatures and burns cleaner than conventional biodiesel, which can help reduce maintenance costs in the long term. Neste estimates that global demand for renewable diesel could exceed 30 million tons by 2030, and 12-17 million tons in Europe alone.   

“To meet the increased demand for renewable diesel and to support continued reduction of GHG emissions, Neste is more than doubling its renewable products’ production capacity to 6.8 million tons in 2026. With its renewable and circular solutions, Neste is committed to help customers reduce their GHG emissions by at least 20 million tons annually by 2030,” says Mats Hultman, Head of OEM Partnerships, Neste.

Over 45000 Valtra tractors delivered with Neste My Renewable Diesel first fill

Valtra is the first tractor factory in the world to fill its new tractors with Neste MY Renewable Diesel. Since 2017, Valtra has delivered more than 45000 tractors to over 30 countries with Neste MY Renewable Diesel first fill using 4.5 million litres as a factory-fill fuel. As a result, Valtra has prevented approximately 13,000, tonnes of GHG** from entering the atmosphere, which is equivalent to the annual GHG emissions from the usage of over 4700 diesel-powered passenger cars.***  

“We know many farmers are looking for ways to be more sustainable without compromising their bottom line,” said Lehikoinen. “Neste MY Renewable Diesel offers huge potential for farmers to reduce their carbon footprint and we have shown tens of thousands of farmers that their machine can run on renewable diesel and their emissions can be reduced.”

Valtra and Neste are also collaborating to give Finnish farmers easier access to renewable diesel. AGCO Suomi, the company-owned distributor of Valtra in Finland, delivers Neste MY Renewable Diesel directly to the farmers via barrel and tanker. The programme has been running since 2020. Today, Neste MY Renewable Diesel is widely available in Sweden, Denmark, Finland, the Baltic countries, Belgium, the Netherlands and the United States of America.

“The climate challenge is huge, and it's clear that it can only be solved by collaborating. AGCO, Valtra and Neste are forerunners in our respective fields and by combining our efforts, we can really make a difference and support the agriculture sector to decarbonize," says Hultman.

Valtra distributor Lantmännen rewards farmers for using renewable diesel

“We clearly see here in the Nordics that partnerships can produce value for farmers who want to farm sustainably”, Lehikoinen adds. 

In 2015 Swedish agricultural cooperative Lantmännen introduced the Climate and Nature programme with the aim of taking actions to increase biodiversity and reduce climate impacts. The programme expanded to Finland in 2021, and currently includes around 300 farmers growing under contract on over 10000 hectares. To join the programme, farms must adhere to stringent biodiversity and carbon reduction and sequestration measures including the use of 100% renewable fuels on all machines used on the farm.  

In another example outside the Climate and Nature programme one farm Menhammar gård in Sweden invested in three Valtra N175 tractors and is operating them using Neste MY Renewable Diesel. Together with the local freight company which also uses Neste’s renewable fuel, their combined consumption is around 10 000 litres of renewable diesel per month. In total, this reduces around 28 tonnes of GHG per year compared to the use of fossil fuel.