January / February, 2003
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On December 10, 2002 the Michigan State Horticulture Society (MSHS) presented the Grower Service Award to Richard Ledebuhr for his contributions to the success of Michigan's vegetable and fruit industry at the Great Lakes Expo.
Richard has become the man growers turn to when they have a problem and they want to move beyond theories and ideas. Whether in his laboratory or out in the grower's farm shop one could bet before the discussion was done, the chalk would come out and a design would be on the floor of how the grower's problem was going to be solved. An unsung hero, Richard's unstated motto is "to make the best better".
Richard assisted in the assembling of the original double bar sickle adopted for trimming fruit trees and then in the 1980's modified it for grape trimming. He helped perfect the first mechanical strawberry harvester and the modification of strawberry processing equipment. He also worked on cucumber harvesters and improvement of potato storages before he turned his attention to better sprayers to effectively deliver pesticides to the target.
Richard is a Specialist at the Department of Agricultural Engineering. He is involved in research and extension for fruit and vegetable mechanization and chemical application equipment.
On January 21, 2003, Richard was also presented the Grand Traverse Fruit Growers Council Distinguished Service Award in recognition of outstanding contribution and dedicated service to the Michigan fruit industry.
Congratulations Richard for your well-deserved recognition!
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