Farm Vibes: Olive harvest with our compact tractors

30 Oct 2025 · 2 min

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1:34

In this John Deere Farm Vibes episode, the narrator takes viewers to Jaén, the world’s largest olive‑growing region in southern Spain. Spain harvests about 6 million tons of olives annually, with Jaén alone contributing roughly 2 million tons. Exports from the area include about 24 000 tons of covered olive oil and 21 000 tons of table olives to Germany. The harvest runs from October through January and faces major challenges such as heavy rain, muddy soil, extreme cold, disease, transport logistics, and labor shortages. The episode details the John Deere tractors used: 5M and 6M series for traditional orchards (100–200 trees / ha), 5N series for high‑density orchards (2 000–3 500 trees / ha), and the 5ML model for high‑value crops. Specialized tree‑shaker equipment attached to the loader gently shakes olives from trees without damage; olives are caught in nets or umbrellas and then moved to an olive‑oil factory for processing.

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For this episode of John Deere Farm Vibes, we are in the south of Spain, in the province of Jaén, the largest olive growing region in the world. Approximately 6 million tons of olives are harvested in Spain each year. A third of this, 2 million tons, solely in Jaén. The olives harvested here are also exported to Germany, around 24,000 tons, as covered olive oil and around 21,000 tons as table olives. The harvest season runs from October to January. The greatest challenge for the harvest is extreme weather conditions such as excessive rain, muddy soil, and overly cold temperatures. Other challenges such as illness, transport to the olive oil factory, and the availability of labor are also very prominent during the harvest season. The tractors used for harvesting are from the 5M and 6M series. The 6M tractors are used in traditional plantations with wider spacing. Featuring 100 to 200 trees per hectare, which are very common in high-end, while the 5N series tractors are utilized in very high-density plantations. These are currently popular in Spain and contain between 2,000 and 3,500 trees per hectare. Tractors for high-value crops such as the 5ML model are also used here. The tractors are equipped with specialized harvesting equipment known as a tree shaker, which is attached to the loader. This device, with its large clamp that encircles the tree, can easily shake the olives from the olive trees without causing any damage to the tree itself. The olives are caught using a previously laid-out net or an unfolded umbrella attached to the shaker. Freshly harvested olives are then transported away and taken to an olive oil factory for further processing.