Smart sprayers already here or coming soon

Consider these sprayer upgrades for weed control on your farm.

July 6, 2023

Smart targeted sprayers are coming to market in a flurry. Some useful background and links to consider:

John Deere’s See & Spray is available three ways:

Ultimate is a fully integrated self-propelled machine with dual tanks for simultaneous broadcast with one nozzle set and See & Spray with another nozzle set.

Premium is a See & Spray upgrade to existing sprayers.

Select has green-on-brown capability for fallow fields.

The technology originated at Blue River Technology, a Silicon Valley startup Deere purchased in 2017 for $305 million.

In 2021 Bosch and BASF Digital Farming formed a joint venture company registered as Bosch BASF Smart Farming GmbH. Recently, the company introduced a new brand name globally, One Smart Spray, which also applies to its smart spraying technology for precision weed management. This technology will be integrated within crop protection sprayers produced by CNH Industrial’s ag portfolio. Integration will be led by Raven engineers.

Customers using One Smart Spray will have green-on-green and green-on-brown weed detection, and selective spraying available in sprayers from the company’s global Case IH and New Holland Agriculture brands.

One Smart Spray is also collaborating with Agco and this spring announced its own ‘sense-and-act’ AI/ML technology on Fendt Rogator sprayers. Equipment trials began in 2021 and the new sprayers will be available in 2024.

Related:Will a smart sprayer pay off on your farm?

Both Agco and CNHi use similar components in their collaboration with One Smart Spray. Agco also collaborated with Raven early on by using Raven’s Hawkeye PWM solution for chemical delivery.

One Smart Spray is also working on smart spraying with other equipment companies like Amazone in North America and Europe, and Stara in Latin America.

In fall, Trimble added smart sprayer Bilberry to its crop protection portfolio, which already includes target spray system WeedSeeker 2; both products claim to cut herbicide use 80% to 90%. Bilberry was found. Both products claim to cut herbicide use 80% to 90%. Bilberry was founded in France and commercialized in Australia.

Launched in the United States in 2022, Greeneye Technology retrofits existing sprayers with an AI camera kit that activates individual nozzles to target weeds as the sprayer moves through the field, including night spraying. Greeneye sensors are preinstalled on brand-new aluminum booms, which replace the old booms on a retrofitted high-clearance machine. In January, Farmers Business Network partnered with Greeneye to sell its systems through its farmer network.

Mike Wilson

Executive Editor, Farm Futures

Mike Wilson is executive editor and content manager at FarmFutures.com. He grew up on a grain and livestock farm in Ogle County, Ill., and earned a bachelor's degree in agricultural journalism from the University of Illinois. He was twice named Writer of the Year by the American Agricultural Editors’ Association and is a past president of the organization. He is also past president of the International Federation of Agricultural Journalists, a global association of communicators specializing in agriculture. He has covered agriculture in 35 countries.

“At FarmFutures.com our goal is to get readers the facts and help them analyze complicated issues that impact their day-to-day decision-making,” he says.