On a July day, ahead of the 2025 growing season, a team from Bushel Plus (soon to be BranValt) met up in the shop at EMILI’s Innovation Farms Centre to install a prototype of a split frame concave on a John Deere X9 combine.
They wanted to see how the prototype operated in real-world conditions throughout the growing season, to validate its ability to make crop transitions faster and easier, ultimately saving time and money for the farmer.
The season was a success, and the X9 Split Frame MAD Concave is now commercially available for the 2026 harvest season. Farmers interested in using the system to optimize threshing and separation during their next harvest can access it through Bushel Plus’s dealer networks in 45 different countries.
Located on a 5,500 acre grain and oilseed farm, EMILI’s Innovation Farms Grosse Isle site provided an ideal setting for Entz and his team to demonstrate the concave’s ability to provide precise configurations and rapid adjustments while ensuring minimal grain damage.
Innovation Farms associate Sarah Wilcott and Rutherford Farm President Rick Rutherford in front of a John Deere X9 Combine on Producer Day. The X9 Split Frame MAD Concave is on display to Rick’s left. (Photo credit: EMILI)
Data from John Deere Operations Centre during wheat, canola, oat, and soybean harvest, as well as from the Bushel Plus SmartPan System™ being demonstrated at EMILI’s Innovation Farms during the same season, provided important feedback.
“The chance to use EMILI’s facilities to test this technology and provide us with performance metrics has been instrumental,” said Connor Entz, director of research and development at Bushel Plus. “The ability to capture and share drone images, the variation of crop types, and the flexibility of working with the farmer during the busy harvest season has been extremely helpful in validating the product.”
While traditional concaves are heavy and cumbersome to change over, the X9 Split Frame MAD Concave comes with a frame that installs to the combine along with lightweight modular inserts that are easy to swap in and out with just two bolts, allowing the combine operator to switch to a new crop in minutes instead of hours.
“It is fantastic to see the X9 Split Frame MAD Concave go from a prototype to a commercialized solution thanks to the data and resources we were able to provide the Bushel Plus team with,” said EMILI Innovation Farms Manager Leanne Koroscil. “This is a great example of how the work we are doing at EMILI is speeding the development and uptake of innovative tools and technologies that aim to make life easier for farmers.”
Visit EMILI’s Innovation Farms powered by AgExpert to learn more about this project and other activities. EMILI hosts field tours and demonstrations on Innovation Farms throughout the season to showcase new agricultural technology, expand innovation opportunities, and increase understanding and adoption of digital tools.