Invention of combine part reaps recognition in Time

A dozen years ago, Jeremy Matuszewski had only visited farms a few times in his life. Now, Time magazine has recognized him for a product he created to help farmers.

The 49-year-old Winkler resident is the inventor of a new kind of concave, the part on a combine that separates grain from chaff. Matuszewski’s company, Thunderstruck Ag Equipment, began selling the product late last year.

Time magazine included the product, marketed as Thunderstruck Razor Edge concaves, on its list of the best inventions of 2025. Published earlier this month, the list includes 300 inventions the magazine said are “making the world better, smarter and more fun.”

Matuszewski said making it onto the list was surreal. “It’s mind-boggling,” he said.

Concaves play a vital role in harvesting and feature a series of openings that are sized according to the type of crop that is being harvested. Large-scale farmers might grow a variety of crops, meaning they have to switch concaves every time they harvest a different crop.

During harvest season in 2022, Matuszewski wondered if there was a way to create a one-size-fits-all solution. After talking with farmers and studying different designs, the following summer he sketched what he wanted to create and hired a welding shop to build a prototype.

He took it to the east coast of Australia to test, in part because Manitoba’s harvest season was almost over by the time the prototype was ready, and in part because he was unsure of his invention.

“I honestly felt like it’s probably not going to work,” Matuszewski said. “So I wanted to go over there and fail where no one would even know.”

Instead, he and the farmer he tested the concave with were surprised by the results.

“We couldn’t believe what we were seeing as far as the performance went, as far as the settings went and the increased capacity,” Matuszewski said. “That’s when I knew OK, this is the real deal.”

After making adjustments to the concave, building more prototypes, testing them in North America and patenting the design, the team at Thunderstruck got to work branding and marketing the product.

The company began selling the concaves last November. Since then, they’ve sold 410 units to farmers around the world, worth about $3.5 million.

Matuszewski’s concaves have picked up a handful of awards along the way, including the farmer’s choice award and innovation award at the annual Ag in Motion event in Saskatchewan this past summer.

He got to share the victory with three of his five children: sons TJ and Bobby, who work in sales at Thunderstruck, and daughter Hannah, who was an intern at the company.

Thunderstruck’s field tests showed the concaves increased harvesting speed by 25 per cent, reduced grain loss and decreased fuel consumption by 40 per cent.

Ryan Dyck, who has a family farm between Lowe Farm and Kane, was impressed after he tested an early version of the concave.

“I really think this is a product that is something obviously farmers are looking for,” Dyck said.

Born and raised in the United States, Matuszewski moved to Canada to play hockey. While studying at Briercrest College in Caronport, Sask., he met his future wife and in 1998 moved to her hometown of Winker.

After developing a passion for sales and marketing at Grandeur Homes Ltd., Matuszewski founded Thunderstruck.

The company specializes in marketing and selling a variety of agriculture equipment invented by farmers, though it didn’t have that focus when Matuszewski started it in 2013.

“I had never even really been on a farm before,” he said. “Like most people, I didn’t know where our food came from or how hard farmers work. Until I started Thunderstruck I had no inclination to ever even be involved in agriculture… So this whole thing is mindblowing.”

Thunderstruck has 26 employees in Canada, including two dozen in Winkler, and it opened a five-person office in Brazil at the beginning of October. The company is on track to earn revenue of $15 million this year.

Matuszewski is quick to credit Thunderstruck’s employees and the many people in Winkler who helped him when he was starting the business. The recognition from Time is meaningful, he said, and it wouldn’t have happened without community support.

“I’m not saying that it couldn’t be done elsewhere, but I know Winkler’s a special place.”

aaron.epp@freepress.mb.ca