During the awarding ceremony at last year’s Agritechnica, Tractor of the Year president Fabio Zammaretti announced sweeping changes to the competition. As it celebrated 25 years since it was established, he acknowledged that the industry has undergone a remarkable transformation and that Tractor of the Year would evolve alongside it.
In line with this, he announced a series of changes to the categories. Firstly, the Open Field category will be split into two distinct classes:
- TotY HighPower – examining tractors above 300hp
- TotY MidPower – for tractors between 150hp and 280hp
The TotY Utility category remains, focused on machines from 70hp up to 140hp, powered by a four-cylinder engine and weighing a maximum of 9,000kg. TotY Specialized also returns, looking at orchard, vineyard and hillside tractors over 40hp.
Tractor of the Year will retain its focus on sustainability with the Sustainable TotY categories, looking at the implementation of alternative fuels and technology to improve the environmental footprint of tractor operations.
Alongside this, a new category, TotYBot, will be introduced. This will be judged with support from technical experts at FederUnacoma and will look at autonomous machines with a three-point linkage and PTO but with no cabin. Entrants must also have a technical readiness level of at least 8, indicating that the unit is near the production stage.
Changes to the judging process
The selection process for the jury has also been adapted. Starting this year, the jury will autonomously shortlist tractors for the competition, having greater control over the entrants in line with the growing complexity of the agricultural market.
The jury is made up of 25 professional journalists from across Europe, with farm Contractor representing the UK.
Tractor of the Year 2025 will hold its awarding ceremony on the opening day of EIMA International in Bologna, Italy.
Alongside the changes to the competition, it was also announced that BKT had renewed its partnership with Tractor of the Year for another four years.
“For us at BKT, the renewal of the TotY sponsorship has been a natural choice. We have actually decided to partner for another four years this long-standing initiative that is founded on values we fully share and identify with. This is especially true regarding the forward-looking vision and the focus on sustainability – two elements that we have in common. So, we are definitely looking forward to celebrating together alongside the winners of this upcoming edition,” said Lucia Salmaso, managing director at BKT Europe.
“We are honoured to be accompanied on this journey by a solid and renowned company in the agricultural sector like BKT,” added Fabio. “Last year, TotY celebrated its 25th anniversary. This is why this year marks the beginning of a new chapter for us, which we have decided to inaugurate by introducing new categories that will reward the most cutting-edge tractors in the industry.”
