This Technology Makes Any Sprayer Smarter

Reducing herbicide usage by 97% in pre-emergence and 88% in post-emergence spraying, Greeneye Technology might be the ‘next-big-thing’ in sprayer technology.
Reducing herbicide usage by 97% in pre-emergence and 88% in post-emergence spraying, Greeneye Technology might be the ‘next-big-thing’ in sprayer technology.
(Farm Journal)

Reducing herbicide usage by 97% pre-emergence and 88% post-emergence, the team at Greeneye Technology are working to make it the ‘next-big-thing’ in sprayer technology.

Since launching its precision spraying system commercially into the US earlier this year, the Israel-based company has been working with early adopter farmers in the Midwest. There, CEO Nadav Bocher and his team are applying their focus to provide farmers with significant savings on their herbicides cost while enabling better efficacy in herbicide application.

Whether it’s saving money on inputs or using more effective products to help farmers achieve better weed control and manage herbicide-resistant weeds, Greeneye Technology has brought to the table a ‘smart’ way of spraying weeds in the field.

The Installation

With the idea of ‘after-market first,’ Greeneye Technology created a sprayer boom designed to retrofit any existing sprayer machine. Much like a skid steer attachment, the entire existing, factory boom is replaced with the fully equipped Greeneye boom.

The one-tank system on the average sprayer is changed out with a two-tank system. The Greeneye aluminum boom uses the existing sprayer line coupled with its own to provide the capability of spraying broadcast residual while target spraying weeds precisely with contact herbicides via the Greeneye line.

The Greeneye boom arrives intact with its 12 graphics processing units (GPU), 24 cameras, 144 sprayer nozzles and pulsating lights, which allows the sprayer to run around the clock.

Greeneye Sprayer Boom

The Data

Using artificial intelligence (AI) technology, the sprayer gets ‘smarter’ with every pass of a field.

The cameras are set up in a grid-like pattern, where each frame consists of a 10 by 10-inch square. Each camera serves as the ‘eye’ for 6 nozzles. When running through the field, the cameras are scanning the area one meter in front of the machine, which allows the technology to process the images and signal the selected nozzles to engage for application when the boom passes over the identified weed.

As the sprayer runs through the field, data is collected to provide the farmer with valuable insights to be housed in an online dashboard.

The AI scans the photos with high resolution and is able to identify weeds down to the species level, as well as the stages of maturation of each weed.

Operation

According to Greeneye’s sprayer operator, Jackson Bakken, the system is user-friendly. With only a couple more buttons to engage and its own screen, operating the equipment does not require a huge learning curve to overcome.

If a breakdown occurs, Greeneye provides sprayer operators access to a 24/7 ‘hotline’ located in Israel to help diagnose and fix the sprayer from afar.

The sprayer has two modes, green vs. brown and green vs. green. Green vs. brown, used during pre-emergence or a fallow situation, tells the sprayer nozzles to activate on all ‘green’ plant life. The green vs. green mode looks at each frame and deciphers the weeds from the crop.

The sprayer also has a sensitivity range to be determined by the operator and a default program that tells the sprayer to automatically spray if the boom reaches a certain height above ground where the cameras can no longer detect if a weed is present.

On average, Greeneye Technology sprayers can be operated at 13 miles per hour through the field.

Working with early adopter farmers in the Midwest this year, 97% and 88% of chemical usage was reduced for pre- and post-emergence herbicide spraying, respectively.

One farmer who committed acres to Greeneye Technology this year, explains how he could see the Greeneye system as being more manageable for the farmer operator—less chemical sprayed, less fill-ups and fewer people and time committed.

Additionally, with less inputs being used overall, farmers are given the opportunity to use more expensive and more effective product options that may not have been in the budget previously.

The Future of Greeneye

Looking ahead to 2023, Bocher explains that the demand for the Greeneye solution will be greater than supply. This is mainly due to supply chain issues that have hampered the manufacturing of the equipment. However, Bocher still plans to deploy dozens of Greeneye systems in the fields next year.

This year, Greeneye offered its early adopter farmers ‘spraying as a service.’ In 2023, farmers will have the opportunity to purchase their own system, which can be retrofitted to any brand or size of sprayer. A majority of Greeneye users in 2022 have already committed to buying a system in 2023, Bocher says.

Greeneye Technology also plans to move its manufacturing to the Midwest in 2023.

The 2023 model will include a global positioning system (GPS) and provide farmers with a mobile app to display information, similar to its online dashboard. Expanding its precision application capabilities to other inputs, such as fungicides and micronutrients, and introducing further field analysis capabilities will also be priorities in future models.

Currently, Greeneye Technology has focused on corn and soybeans in its initial development, however work has already begun to integrate wheat and cotton to the lineup.

Bocher explains a Greeneye Technology sprayer will be available to farmers in the U.S. via pay-per-acre, purchase or lease options next year.

With the input savings and efficiency of the technology, Bocher believes a system can be paid off within 12-18 months.

At this time, 2023 prices are estimated to be released mid-summer.

The company also recently announced its first in-field testing to take place later this year in Brazil.

“2022 has already proved to be a milestone year for Greeneye Technology, following our hugely successful launch in North America, and we are delighted to announce the next exciting stage in our global expansion,” Bocher says.

 

 

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