MILWAUKEE — The Association of Equipment Manufacturers and the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers presented the fourth-annual Davidson Prize to the top three innovative products selected from AE50 honorees during the virtual special-edition of Commodity Classic.
Winning entries included:
• Purdue University and LeafSpec LLC for the LeafSpec, a portable hyperspectral corn leaf imager.
• Haber Technologies Inc. for the DRI-Stack, a grain drying and aeration system.
• AGCO Corp. for the 9350 DynaFlex Draper Header with AutoDock, a 50-foot flexible header with automatic system for attaching all mechanical, electrical and hydraulic connections of the header to the Fendt IDEAL combine.
“These three products deliver on solutions that truly represent the spirit of J.B. Davidson and the innovative legacy of agriculture,” said Curt Blades, senior vice president of Agriculture for AEM. “I continue to be amazed about the advancement of ag engineering and the positive impacts it continues to have on farmers’ ability to work more efficiently.”
The Davidson Prize was designed to celebrate breakthrough innovations in areas of agricultural, food and biological systems engineering.
“ASABE and AEM came together to create a new award to celebrate innovation in agriculture and bring additional recognition to those who embody the spirit of J.B. Davidson,” said Darrin Drollinger, executive director at ASABE.
“The products named as 2021 winners of the Davidson Prize continue to represent the diversity of agricultural engineering, as well as the variety of companies that bring advanced technology and exciting improvements to the marketplace. I believe J.B. Davidson would be amazed at how advanced farm equipment has become.”
The Davidson Prize is named for J.B. Davidson, the father of modern agricultural engineering. It gives a nod to the storied past of agricultural engineering and pays homage to those engineers, like Davidson, who aspire to find a better way.
Winners were selected from the AE50 honorees, announced at the Agricultural Equipment Technology Conference in February.