Every year, the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers awards a prize to 50 of the most notable engineering advancements in farm machinery.
The list of technologies picking up one of ASABE’s AE50 awards is usually pretty impressive, and the 2026 list, announced earlier this month, is no exception.
WHY IT MATTERS: Awards such as these give us all a clearer picture of the pace and focus of upcoming innovations in farm equipment.
Here’s a look at some of the notable winners.
Agco picked up seven awards. Notably, the company’s 1000 Series Gen4 and 800 Series Gen5 tractors were each recognized.
Fendt’s 832 Vario also won a Farm Machine 2026 Award for Mid-Range Tractor and Audience Choice Award at Agritechnica in Germany in November for what was described as “its full redesign that includes VarioDrive, Fendt iD low-speed concept, self-cleaning engine air filter and an innovative lighting concept.”
Fendt’s smaller 516 Vario also won tractor of the year for mid-power category at Agritechnica.
Among Agco’s other products that took home AE50 awards this year were its PTx Trimble OutRun autonomous tillage system, which is not yet commercially available but likely will be within a couple of years.
As well, the company recently introduced the Hesston by Massey Ferguson SB.1436DB double-chamber, small square baler.
Using the same basic concept as the MF SB.1436DB, Great Plains Manufacturing, which is now owned by Kubota, won an award for its SSB high capacity dual-chamber, small square baler.
CNH’s Case IH brand won four awards, including for its SenseApply, which uses real-time sensing for variable rate control of liquid and granular applications.
John Deere collected five awards, including for its application systems, the See and Spray Select and Select Variable Rate systems. Also picking up a prize was Deere’s Autonomy system, which is available now for select 8R tractors. Other tractor models are currently available with autonomy-ready systems built into them for future applications.
Claas’s newest Jaguar 1000 Series forage harvester picked up an award. That machine was just introduced to the Canadian market last fall.
A few awards were also picked up by Canadian manufacturers.
MacDon won one for its new FD2 Plus FlexDraper header, and Salford won its prize for the AB230CD chassis mounted air boom spreader.
As well, Saskatchewan-based Bourgault won for its Intelligent Control-BIC system.
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