Journalists from 26 European countries have named the Claas Axion 9.450 Terra Trac as the 2026 Tractor of the Year in the HighPower Category.
By Amelia Genis, senior journalist at African Farming and Landbouweekblad
The announcement was made in a packed hall at Agritechnica 2025, the world’s leading agricultural machinery exhibition, in Hannover, Germany.
A panel of 26 journalists from various European countries who judged the competition praised the Axion’s “combination of power, hydraulic capability and data-driven performance management”. The model won in the HighPower Category, which is dedicated to tractors above 300 horsepower.
The Tractor of the Year awards – started by the Italian magazine Trattori in 1998 – recognise technological innovation, efficiency, and the contribution tractors make to sustainable and intelligent farming practices.
Chairperson Fabio Zammaretti says tractor innovation is a key indicator of agriculture’s ongoing transformation.
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Awards Celebrate Excellence Across Tractor Categories
The event also honoured manufacturers in other categories, reflecting the diversity of the modern machinery market. The five other categories and their winners were:
- MidPower: Fendt 516 Vario
- Utility: Valtra G125 CVT Active
- Specialized: New Holland T4.120 F Auto Command
- Bot (robot tractors): AGXEED AgBot 2.055 W3 powered by a Deutz engine
- Sustainable: JCB FASTRAC 6300
A Tribute to Tractors
Speakers at the event became sentimental as they reminisced about tractors, especially those from their childhood days on the farm.
Tobias Eichberg, managing director of DLG Markets, the organisers of Agritechnica and other global agricultural trade shows, recalled how, as an 11-year-old German farm boy, he had to load bags of potatoes using a 22 hp Fahr tractor. He still remembers how they called it the “tuf-tuf” after the sound it made. “Tractors aren’t just machines,” he said. “They have character.”
Asger Christensen, a former Danish dairy farmer and member of the European Parliament, said that for him a tractor is more than just a machine – it’s a helping hand. He remembers the Fordson as the first tractor he ever worked with.
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European manufacturers urged to unite
Jelte Wiersma, secretary-general of CEMA, the European association representing the manufacturers of agricultural machinery, said that while Europe accounted for 30% of the global economy 25 years ago, that figure has now dropped to 15%.
Although the agricultural machinery sector has become the world’s largest exporter of agri-equipment, it now faces threats “from all sides” – including tariffs, war, and rising energy and steel prices.
He urged Europe’s tractor manufacturers to unite and create a truly internal market for their products by, among other things, removing tariff barriers between European countries for machinery and services. Europe only has a future if it is built on manufacturing, he added.
Amelia Genis is attending Agritechnica 2025 as a guest of the German Agricultural Association.
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