Steyr has launched a new hydrogen agriculture research project that aims to demonstrate how hydrogen-powered tractors and on-farm fuel production could provide a practical route to lower-carbon farming.
The Hytrac project, led by Vienna University of Technology (TU Wien), brings together a hydrogen-powered tractor with an integrated on-farm hydrogen production, storage and refuelling system known as COMBHY. A full-scale demonstration is planned at the Energy Hub Neusiedl in Austria.
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Building on the FCTrac hydrogen concept tractor unveiled in 2024, Hytrac uses a modified Steyr Expert fitted with a direct-injection hydrogen internal combustion engine rather than a fuel cell. The research machine is designed to deliver comparable performance and operating times to a conventional diesel tractor, while driving through a high-efficiency electric continuously variable transmission (eCVT). Implements can also be powered electrically via the tractor's high-voltage battery.
The wider project will investigate how farms could produce hydrogen using renewable energy sources already found on many businesses, including biomass, solar and wind power. The hydrogen would then be compressed, stored and used to refuel agricultural machinery on site, with AI-based energy management helping to balance fuel production with demand.
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Steyr says the project focuses on real-world practicality and energy independence, examining how hydrogen infrastructure and agricultural machinery can operate as a single integrated system.
Although no longer a brand widely seen in the UK, Steyr is a brand of CNH which includes Case IH and New Holland. The engineering development for new technologies is rarely confined to one brand, and the research and introduction of hydrogen power by CNH, if successful, will likely see introductions for its equivalent blue and red models in the UK.
