MILWAUKEE & ORLANDO—The American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers and the Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM) recently presented the sixth-annual Davidson Prize to three top innovative products. Winners were selected from this year's AE50 honorees, and the presentation was made March 9 during Commodity Classic in Orlando, Florida.
Winning entries included:
- Precision Planting for the Radicle Agronomics system, which focuses on saving time and eliminating error-prone processes in soil sampling and testing. The Radicle Agronomics system is designed for professional crop consultants and aims to make daily processes more efficient.
- RedSea for the Iyris Heat Blocking Greenhouse Roof, a controlled environment agriculture (CEA) solution. Its proprietary nanomaterial blocks near infrared solar radiation, mitigating energy expenditure on cooling, saving water, and extending the growing season in hot climates.
- TerraClear for the TC80 Rock Picker, one of the most versatile and efficient precision rock pickers available today. It can pick rocks between 4 and 26 inches in diameter, pull up buried rock, and can cover huge fields with a picking rate of 400 rocks per hour.
“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 2023 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.
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 J.B. Davidson, who aspire to find a better way. Winners are selected from the AE50 honorees, announced at the Agricultural Equipment Technology Conference in February.
“I believe J.B. Davidson would be amazed at how advanced farm equipment has become,” continued Drollinger.
ASABE is an international scientific and educational organization dedicated to the advancement of engineering applicable to agricultural, food, and biological systems.
AEM is the North America-based international trade group representing off-road equipment manufacturers and suppliers with more than 1,000 companies and more than 200 product lines in the agriculture and construction-related industry sectors worldwide. The equipment manufacturing industry in the United States supports 2.8 million jobs and contributes roughly $288 billion to the economy every year.
Images courtesy AGCO Corp