Wanting to enhance its “green” credentials, Goodyear first toyed with eco-friendly rubber in 2003 when it developed a tyre that employed a maize starch derivative as filler.

Although that technology is still used in the automotive industry it wasn’t hard-wearing enough for farming so the company is experimenting with palm oil as a replacement for a proportion of the crude oil used in its tyres.

20% of the 250-litres of oil used in a standard rear tractor tyre come from this plant-based product.

The Biotred 2 has undergone extensive field tests but current oil prices mean it is not yet economically viable.