Many people my age remember the old bean riders. A few people sitting on a spray boom, spot spraying weeds in a field. It was obviously more precise than broadcast spraying, but you hardly see it anymore. In the age of large machines and large fields, that type of precision isn?t always an efficient use of time. However, John Deere is taking that premise and automating it for the 2022 model year.
They call it See & Spray?Select, and it will be installed on their 400 & 600 series sprayers.
See & Spray camera mounted on sprayer boom. (Photo by Dustin Hoffmann)
Ryan Stien is the See & Spray? Product Manager for John Deere. He says that See & Spray? builds off their ExactApply? technology. When it sees green, it sprays green.
Right now, the technology is designed for dealing with the fallow ground in the Western and High Plains of the United States. However, Stien says this is just the first step in their journey with the program. Eventually, John Deere would like to perfect it for corn and soybean applications. This could be like bean walking of years gone by, where you only remove the weeds that are there.
Multiple cameras are installed on the spray boom to send information to an installed processor which turns the nozzle on and sprays the weed. However, it is done quite quickly. A lot quicker than it took me to relay this information to you.
Processors for See & Spray technology on John Deere spray boom. (Photo by Dustin Hoffmann)
With See & Spray?, you aren?t just limited to spot spraying. If you need your application to be a full broadcast spray, the technology can change at the press of a button.
When you consider the push towards more environmentally friendly agriculture, and the fact that inputs aren?t cheap enough to just waste, efficiency will be the key to success. With See & Spray?, you can see an average drop of 77% in herbicide usage in your fields.
You can learn more about See & Spray? and the whole John Deere sprayer line by visiting your local dealer.
