Amazone announced March 16 that shareholder and longstanding CEO of the Amazone Group, Prof. h.c. Dr. Dr. h.c. Heinz Dreyer, passed away on Feb. 17, 2023 at the age of 90. "We have lost an unparalleled inventor from the agricultural machinery sector and a passionate family business owner," the press release said.
Dr. Heinz Dreyer decisively shaped sustainable development in the Amazone Group for many decades. As soon as he joined the company management in 1958, he demonstrated a strong commitment to research and product development. The development of agricultural machinery was always for him a matter very close to his heart. Numerous pioneering inventions and patents can be related back to this successful innovator of agricultural machinery. For example, he invented the first ZA three-point linkage mounted, twin disc fertilizer spreader, which later became the forerunner to almost every other fertilizer spreader used around the world. He set further milestones with the design of seed drills for larger working widths and invented the legendary Amazone D4 tractor-mounted seed drill, which soon enabled the company to become market leader in this field as well.
Ahead of his time, he turned his attention to the progressive method of direct seeding as early as 1975 and invented a ground-breaking chisel opener for this purpose. His achievements were recognized in many ways. Over the years, he came up with a large number of inventions which received many awards and medals for these many advancements in agricultural machinery. Dr Heinz Dreyer himself received top-level scientific awards and important honorary degrees for his work.