FBN and Greeneye Partner to Sell Selective Spray Machines
Announcing an expansion to its existing partnership, Greeneye Technologies and FBN are starting a fully commercial collaboration that will also include ongoing testing to continually measure and improve what Greeneye and FBN can offer to farmers.
In 2022, the two companies worked together to field test the retrofittable Greeneye Technologies selective spraying in the Midwest. For 2023, they are expanding testing with a special focus on crop protection packages to optimize weed control and return on investment.
“We embarked on this partnership with field testing, and we showed via several growers in Nebraska an 86% reduction in contact herbicide use,” says Matthew Meisner, Vice President of R&D and Data Science at FBN. “This performance came without a reduction in weed control or yield.”
The coming year is also a transitionary year for Greeneye’s business model. While the previous year focused on a service model and payment for acres applied, now the startup is ready to sell entire systems for retrofit on existing sprayers. Its production for the 2023 spray season is sold out. Greeneye says its market is to farmers and ag retailers. The first systems will be sold via the FBN partnership will be for 2024 application season. And Nadav Bocher, Co-founder and CEO of Greeneye Technology, says he plans on FBN being the primary go-to-market channel for machines in just a few years.
“We started with a few systems sold within the FBN membership, but we quickly hope that will become a few dozen and then a few hundred,” Bocher says.
The announcement also includes FBN making a financial investment in the startup (Greeneye has also received investments from AGCO and Syngenta). This is one of the first machinery-focused investments for FBN.
“This cements our view that this technology will be an impactful tool for growers to manage their operation for weed control and profitability,” Meisner says. “It’s a tech we feel will have a positive impact.”
Both company leaders are bullish on the performance for weed control provided by the selective spraying technology. Layered with cost savings and yield improvements, they are confident in the technology’s adoption growth.
Part of the focus in the 2023 selective spray testing will add FBN’s Acre Pack. Tentatively titled Precision Spraying Packs, FBN farmer members receive customized agronomic recommendations for crop chemistries to be sprayed via the Greeneye System.
The Greeneye System is designed with two tanks and two plumbing lines—which provides the setup for on line to apply a residual herbicide and the second line to be spot spray the contact herbicide.
“It’s incredibly well suited for different farmers with different budgets and customized crop protection packages,” Bocher says.
Meisner says this is a way FBN aims to provide an advanced service to farmers—not a mandated application program—but insights into how to place chemistries with this technology and potential add products previously overlooked or not part of an economically feasible program.
“We see the Precision Spraying Pack as a way to tailor recommendations with the Greeneye System to optimize weed control and use weed control differently,” Meisner says. “For example, if you are only spraying 5 to 10% of a field with the contact herbicide, you realize some products could fit that weren’t previously considered.”
The company leaders say similar to how last year served as a springboard for deeper collaborations, they are looking forward to expanding the Greeneye System will applications in fungicide and crop fertility.
