About the Society

The American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers actively supports the creation of more innovative, sustainable, and efficient systems for a world in which all have the food, water, energy, fiber, and safe environment needed to thrive.

Founded in 1907 and headquartered in St. Joseph, Michigan, ASABE is a volunteer-led organization, governed by an elected Board of Trustees, that comprises members in more than 100 countries. 

A leader in workforce development, ASABE supports academic programming in engineering and technology, program accreditation, student development, engineering professional licensure, and continuing professional development.

ASABE Members

ASABE members work in all sectors of agriculture, food, and biological systems. Their training, unique among engineering disciplines, provides them with a systems understanding of the impact of their work. 

Employers include manufacturers, consultancies, academia, and public service.

Most ASABE members list machinery or natural resources engineering as their primary technical areas of expertise. Other areas include processing systems, facilities systems, and information and control systems. 

Almost half of members are under the age of 34, and nearly one in five members is a woman.

Activities of the Society

ASABE hosts a variety of meetings, conferences, and events, both local and global, to support the profession and facilitate the exchange of technical information. The 2024 ASABE Annual International Meeting will be held July 28–August 1 in Anaheim, California. 

As a leading publisher of textbooks and journals, the Society throughout its history has helped accelerate research and technology innovation. ASABE currently published four journals:

  • Journal of the ASABE
  • Applied Engineering in Agriculture
  • Journal of Agricultural Safety and Health
  • Journal of Natural Resources and Agricultural Ecosystems 

The Society is also a standards-developing organization, accredited by both the American National Standards Institute and the Standards Council of Canada. ASABE maintains more than 200 standards. The Society also serves as administrator for the US technical advisory groups for a number of ISO committees.

Among its thriving awards and recognition programs, the Society sponsors the annual AE50 awards, honoring the year's best innovations introduced to the marketplace. From the AE50 winners, three top innovations are selected for the Davidson Prize, co-presented with the Association of Equipment Manufacturers.

ASABE student design competitions prepare emerging talent for the workplace by providing practical, team-based design challenges that hone technical, communication, and leadership skills. The International 1/4-Scale Student Design Competition, Fountain Wars, ASABE Robotics Competition, and the ASABE Bioprocessing-Startup Competition each year bring the best out of ASABE student members.

Profile of ASABE Members and their areas of impact

New Initiatives with Global Impact

Two premier ASABE initiatives are drawing praise and support for their ambitious efforts to transform food, agriculture, and natural resource systems.

The Alliance for Modernizing African Agrifood Systems takes a holistic approach in the development and adoption of modern, appropriate technologies that will accelerate improvements in the food crop value chains in Sub-Saharan Africa. Population growth, rapid urbanization, growth in the middle class and related diet transformation, and climate change necessitate a bold, innovative value-chain–oriented approach to transform, and agricultural and biological engineers are well-positioned to lead this transformation.


The Circular Bioeconomy Systems Institute aims to create a more sustainable, resilient, and environmentally friendly bioeconomy sector that not only produces and supplies food and other bioproducts but also regenerates natural resources, minimizes losses and wastes, and mitigates the environmental impacts of bioproduct supply chains. It represents a shift away from the linear "take-make-dispose" model to a more circular and restorative approach.