A life full of passion for AMAZONE

Visionary of the world of agricultural machinery celebrates his 90th birthday

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Prof. h.c. Dr. Dr. h.c. Heinz Dreyer

Prof. h.c. Dr. Dr. h.c. Heinz Dreyer (1932 - 2023), the Managing Director of Amazonen-Werke for many years, celebrated his 90th birthday on 19th February. He helped to build up the company as the third generation of the Dreyer families involved and played a significant role in developing it into the global agricultural machinery specialist in modern crop production. In the course of his activities in the management of the Amazone Group, he made a large number of important award-winning technical inventions which have been patented. He transferred his management responsibilities to his son, Dr. Justus Dreyer, at the beginning of 2005. Nevertheless, he is still responsible for the Amazone seeding technology and optimum fertilisation and maintains his association with various universities. He also continues to be a member of the management board. 

As the eldest son of Dipl. Eng. Heinrich Dreyer, the successor to the founder of Amazonen-Werke, Heinz Dreyer was born in 1932 and was designated by his father as his successor at an early stage. He studied mechanical engineering at the Technical University of Munich and, after graduating in 1956, continued at the university as a freelancer with a research contract from the Federal Ministry of Agriculture (Bonn) to complete his doctorate. 

However, his plans were abruptly interrupted when his father died suddenly in November 1957. From that point, Heinz Dreyer immediately joined AMAZONEN-WERKE, together with his cousin Klaus Dreyer, and took over the management of the company together with him. In addition to the necessary expansion of the company, Heinz Dreyer tackled his doctoral thesis again, additionally studying Agricultural Business Administration and Agricultural Policy with the corresponding examinations and received his doctorate from the Justus Liebig University in Gießen in 1963. 

He was primarily concerned with product development from the outset and he immediately achieved great success here. After only a few weeks, he invented the first ZA three-point linkage mounted, twin disc fertiliser spreader, which later became the forerunner to almost every other fertiliser spreader used around the world since and it has sold 
well over 950,000 units to date. He was also involved in the further development of potato harvesters, developed a new type of manure spreader with a wide-spreading unit, invented new seed drills for larger working widths, and then finally, a new modern, tractor-mounted seed drill, which also brought AMAZONEN-WERKE market leadership in this field after a short time - the legendary AMAZONE D4. 

Over the years, Prof. Dreyer has anchored the AMAZONE virtues into the DNA of the overall AMAZONE organisation: These include outstanding innovative success, high quality standards and communication on equal terms with farmers and scientists from all over the world. With unceasing passion and high commitment, agricultural machinery development is a matter very close to his heart and for him the key to the success of AMAZONE.