JCB mark 75th birthday with giant artwork

Visible from space: Fastrac tractor creates giant ‘75’ in stubble field near company’s birthplace  

A HUGE ‘75’ artwork visible from outer space was recently carved into a Staffordshire stubble field to mark JCB’s impending 75th birthday.

The giant logo was created in a field eight miles from the company’s World Headquarters in Rocester and covered almost eight acres – equivalent to four football pitches.

The birthday tribute was so distinctive it could be seen by imaging satellites orbiting the Earth.

The special artwork was created ahead of JCB’s 75th anniversary on 23 October by one of the company’s most famous products – the Fastrac tractor, which was equipped with a hi-tech precision-guidance system.

A team of four JCB employees was behind the larger-than-life creation, which was close to the market town of Uttoxeter, where the late Joseph Cyril Bamford founded JCB in a lock-up garage on the same day as his son Anthony, now Lord Bamford, was born.

JCB agriculture product and marketing manager David Timmis said: ‘Seventy-five years is a big milestone to reach and we wanted to mark it in a big way with a product which has played a significant role in JCB’s success.

‘Using the JCB Fastrac to create a giant JCB logo in a field which could be seen from space seemed the perfect idea and the whole team was delighted with the result.’

The distinctive tribute was created by uploading a digital version of the artwork to the Fastrac’s automatic steering system, which then calculated the guidance paths.