‘Disrupting’ ag equipment markets to help producers

Jeremy Matuszewski is the founder of Thunderstruck Ag Equipment, a company founded in 2013 that represents dozens of high-performance agricultural products across North America and markets them across the globe. He’s also the inventor of the patent-pending Razors Edge Concaves that won an Ag In Motion Innovation Award and a place among Time Magazine’s list of the 30 Best Inventions of 2025.

Thunderstruck is a sort of an innovation lab for farmer-created, field-tested equipment that reduces farmers’ time and effort and increases their bottom lines.

Matuszewski debuted the Razors Edge Concaves in 2024, and it has already become one of Thunderstruck’s signature products. It allows farmers to use the same combine to harvest oats, barley, canola, sunflowers, soybeans, and corn—without switching the concave, the part that separates grain from chaff.

“The [concaves’] bar spacing…is variable based on crop flow, which balances the combine,” he said, meaning farmers don’t have to change concaves between crops.

The design features tight spacing where impact is highest and opens up to improve material flow, reducing plugging and improving overall threshing efficiency. Not having to switch out the concave saves farmers time and effort. According to field tests, the Razors Edge Concaves increased harvesting speed by 25%, reduced grain loss, and decreased fuel consumption by 40%. It allows farmers to switch between crops without changing equipment, simplifying the harvesting process.

By coming up with an invention that makes existing combines even more useful and versatile, Matuszewski is a market disruptor. Although he has a blue-collar upbringing and is a “hands-on” guy, he was not raised on a farm. His immersion in farmers’ challenges and addressing problems came from 20 years of marketing experience. Matuszewski told High Plains Journal he is a “back of the napkin guy” and didn’t use artificial intelligence in his design process, although he has used it elsewhere and is integrating it into his company’s operations.

Buoyed by his experience of innovating to reduce farmers’ expenses, Matuszewski made Thunderstruck a company dedicated to finding, promoting and scaling innovations that gives more capacity and profits to farmers.

If the Razors Edge Concaves is a signature product, a close-runner up in popularity is the MudSmith Spoked Gauge Wheel, a patented wheel design that sloughs off mud. It was developed by farmers in South Dakota to solve the challenges of no-till farming in the prairie pothole region.

“Farmers got sick of unplugging gauge grills,” said Matuszewski. Like the Razors’ Edge Concaves, the MudSmith Spoked Gauge Wheel frees up farmers’ time from tedious equipment maintenance to focus on income-producing activities.

Thunderstruck gets pitched many ideas and products, Matuszewski said, and selects which ones to move forward with very carefully. Thunderstruck is a global company that sells and operates in five continents. These types of design improvements are rooted in a deep familiarity with farm routine and challenges.

In January, Thunderstruck Ag announced the addition of the Rezidue Reaper invented by Tanner Schoff at Sharp Harvest to its growing lineup of farmer-invented equipment solutions. Designed to aggressively size and manage heavy crop residue during harvest, the Rezidue Reaper helps farmers prepare fields more efficiently while reducing the need for additional tillage passes.

“This will also be a huge market disruptor,” Matuszewski said. “It’s been one of the hottest products at the farm trade shows.”

Shows and awards are important, he said, because they validate the story of the products and the problems they solve.

The Rezidue Reaper is built for row-crop farmers, strip-till and no-till operators, and growers facing heavy residue from corn, soybeans, wheat, and other high-biomass crops. By integrating residue management directly into the harvest operation, the tool addresses one of the most persistent challenges in modern farming, handling increasing residue levels without adding time, fuel costs, or operational complexity. Unlike traditional residue management tools that require a separate field pass after harvest, the Rezidue Reaper shreds and incorporates residue in one pass. Razor-sharp blades consistently cut stalks and root balls, reducing hair-pinning ahead of planting and improving residue sizing across the field.

“The Rezidue Reaper solves a real problem by managing residue during harvest,” said Tanner Schoff, inventor at Sharp Harvest. “This product reduces the need for additional tillage, breaks up corn rows for complete tire protection, and allows farmers to be more efficient with their time, fuel and equipment.”

These design improvements are rooted in a deep familiarity with farm routine and challenges. Matuszewski says development and marketing is the hardest lift. “It’s really, really hard to bring a product to market,” he said.

He gives all the credit to his “team of superheroes” who winnow through product pitches and bring Thunderstruck’s innovative products to farmers all over the world. After the U.S., he figures Brazil is the company’s No. 2 market, then Australia, Europe and South Africa.

“We love ag and farmers, and we’re not going to stop,” Matuszewski said. “At the end of the day, we’re trying to help farmers do better and put more money in their pockets.”

David Murray can be reached at [email protected].