January 15, 2026 (Lynden, WA) — Oxbo, a leader in specialty harvesting and controlled application equipment, is proud to announce that AutoFill—an innovative on-harvester automation solution for the Oxbo 7440 and 7450 berry harvesters—has been honored as a winner of the prestigious AE50 award.
The award, sponsored by ASABE’s Resource magazine, recognizes the top innovative new products produced in 2025. The AE50 awards will be presented during the 2026 Agricultural Equipment Technology Conference (AETC) in Louisville Kentucky, February 8-11. The awards will be presented during the AE50 Award Luncheon on February 10th. Mike Vande Voort, Berry Mechanical Engineer, will accept the award on the company’s behalf.
This is the 16th time Oxbo has won the AE50 award, underscoring a long-standing commitment to engineering excellence, innovation, and advancing technology in specialty harvesting.
“I’m incredibly proud of our engineering team for developing an automation concept and executing to deliver a fully commercialized solution,” said Stephen Schell, Senior Engineering Manager for Oxbo Fruit. “AutoFill marks an important first step for Oxbo in automation for berry harvesting. It showcases our ability to innovate and deliver practical solutions that advance efficiency. Winning the AE50 Award affirms Oxbo’s leadership and our commitment to shaping the future of harvesting for growers.”
During the 2025 blueberry harvest in Washington and Oregon, AutoFill delivered impressive field results, successfully handling millions of pounds of fruit.
Designed to reduce on-harvester labor requirements by up to 75% and boost harvester efficiency, AutoFill builds on the foundation of Oxbo’s EvenFill system, taking automation to the next lever for growers.
“We are honored to earn the AE50 award because it reflects the real-world impact AutoFill delivers for growers,” said Kathryn VanWeerdhuizen, Director of Sales & Marketing for Oxbo Fruit. “By reducing labor demands and improving accuracy, AutoFill helps our customers harvest more efficiently and profitably. We are especially proud to have earned this recognition multiple times, highlighting Oxbo’s dedication to innovation in fruit harvesting.”
To see the AutoFill technology, visit Oxbo in booth N32 at the World Ag Expo in Tulare, CA, February 10-12, 2026, or contact Oxbo or your local Oxbo dealer.
For more information on Oxbo, visit www.oxbo.com.
About Oxbo
At Oxbo, we are Optimizing farming together. Serving the application, forage, fruit, seed, vegetable, and root crop markets, Oxbo aims to be the clear choice for specialty harvesting and controlled application technology. The Oxbo team consists of global engineering, manufacturing, sales, and service support. For more information, visit www.oxbo.com.
