Each year, dozens of American farmers are injured or killed after they climb into a grain bin. A father-son duo from Aurora founded their one-of-a-kind company with one mission: No more boots in that grain.
A development from agricultural machinery manufacturer Grain Weevil is looking to take the burden of going inside granaries off of farmers’ hands. The company’s grain bin management robot is designed to engage the surface of the grain directly. It performs tasks that include breaking crusts, leveling, managing and mapping while loading grain, and feeding grain into augers while unloading.
While farmers have to perform a number of difficult tasks, tending to the grain stored inside grain bins (aka granaries) is particularly arduous – not to mention dangerous. That's where the Grain Weevil grain bin management robot is designed to come in.
Grain Weevil was recently named the 2022 NBDC Innovation Business of the Year in recognition of their efforts to eliminate grain bin deaths through the invention of an autonomous robot. The Grain Weevil robot is currently undergoing trials in grain bins in four states as part of its safety certification.
Grain Weevil is the 2022 NBDC Innovation Business of the Year.
New companies like the Grain Weevil get a helping hand from Nebraska-based business incubator.
Video Friday is your weekly selection of awesome robotics videos, collected by your friends at IEEE Spectrum robotics. This is the Grain Weevil, and it’s designed to keep humans out of grain bins. I love this because it’s an excellent example of how to solve a real, valuable problem uniquely with a relatively simple, focused robot.
The inside of a grain bin is one of the most dangerous places for farmers and other ag workers involved in the handling and storage of grain. One ag tech start-up has built a robot that can do pretty much anything a worker can do inside a grain bin with a shovel — keeping workers out of grain bins and harm’s way.
“Build me a robot so I never have to go into a grain bin again.” When Nebraska farmer Zach Hunnicutt made this comment to his friends Ben and Chad Johnson a few years ago, neither man fully understood the remarkable innovation this would unleash. Timing met opportunity at the right moment, though, and grain farmers across America stand to benefit.
Keeping boots out of bins is the key goal for Grain Weevil inventors Chad and Ben Johnson. The grain bin robot entering the last phase before commercial availability this year started out with a spark of an idea and quickly snowballed into a product with the potential to revolutionize safety and efficiency for the ag industry.
Ben Johnson and Zane Zents are making waves in the agriculture technology industry with the Grain Weevil Robot. They explain how this invention can keep farmers out of grain bins and avoid accidents.
Steven Kilger, the host of the Feed & Grain Podcast, talks with Chad Johnson, CEO at Grain Weevil Corp., about the Grain Weevil, a robot designed to level grain and break up damaged grain in grain bins. The robot is propelled by two augers and uses gravity to do what used to be a very dangerous and time-consuming job.
Nebraska robot inventor Chad Johnson works through challenges just as his Grain Weevil does in grain bins. Johnson and his engineering team designed Grain Weevil to “chew up clumps, level and run and flow” stored grain, eliminating the need for anyone to enter a bin.
Grain Weevil is developing innovative technology that keeps farmers safer by keeping them out of grain bins.
Growers who operate grain elevators may help prevent accidents by following key safety practices.
A company from Aurora could be manufacturing some of the coolest products in Nebraska. The Nebraska Manufacturing Alliance is asking the people of the state to vote on the ‘Coolest Thing Made in Nebraska.’
It takes just four seconds for an adult to sink knee-deep and be trapped in grain. After 20 seconds, they can be fully immersed in a fighting challenge to get out.
A robot that does the dirty, dangerous work for you. On this episode of Farm Next, the father and son team behind Nebraska’s Grain Weevil discuss how the robot eliminates the need for farmers to crawl into the grain bin ever again.
A grain robot might seem unnecessary, but it keeps your food fresh.
A robot that’s meant to save farmers from the danger job of entering a grain bin is the winner of Farm Bureau’s Ag Innovation Challenge. Now in its eighth year, that challenge provides opportunities for Farm Bureau members to showcase business innovations being developed for agriculture. Nebraska-based Grain Weevil Corporation won this year’s competition, as announced at the American Farm Bureau Convention this winter.
Grain Weevil recently earned the Innovation Award, with a $50,000 prize, at the 2022 American Farm Bureau Association annual meeting. The creators say it also helps with grain quality and work efficiency on the farm.
The American Farm Bureau Federation has recognized Chad and Ben Johnson of Nebraska for designing a robot called "Grain Weevil" to lower maintenance and make grain bins safer
The Farm Bureau Ag Innovation Challenge, now in its eighth year, provides opportunities for Farm Bureau members to showcase business innovations being developed for agriculture. Grain Weevil Corporation is the winner of this year’s competition. The American Farm Bureau Federation, in partnership with Farm Credit, announced the winner at the 2022 American Farm Bureau Convention.
