Tale of the tape. The input savings on Orin Romine’s Texas farm are real.
In 2026, Romine rolled a See & Spray system across his rows. “Before the end of the year, this’ll be a net positive. I’ve spent less than 35% of normal chemical costs so far this year. It’s not complicated. On my operation, the math works.”
Pure Economics
In cotton and grain sorghum, at 12 miles per hour, Romine runs down 40” rows in his second post-emergence pass inside a John Deere 412R sprayer with a 120’ boom and a 1,200-gallon tank. As needed, the nozzles fired precision-guided shots of herbicide at Palmer amaranth, Russian thistle, devil’s claw, and several more weed cronies, while ignoring all else. No friendly fire damage.
Granted, the season in his locale has been marked by relatively heavy rainfall and above average weed presence, but if Romine continues shaving off chemical percentages at the present pace, See & Spray will be a boon across his operation. Translated: The system already is paying for itself, he reports.
“This is pure economics for us. We gotta be able to justify paying for See & Spray technology. It’s early, but there’s no question so far. The overall numbers speak for themselves.”
Alongside several family members, Romine, 43, farms roughly 15,000 dryland acres outside Big Spring, roughly 40 miles east of Midland and 100 miles south of Lubbock—West Texas.
In 2026, Romine shifted out of an R4045 to the 412R. “I was making a $40,000 a year payment on the 4045. I traded it in and they basically gave me right at what the payoff was on it, which I was happy with, considering the market conditions. I did a lease to own on this new machine because I was cautiously optimistic, but at the same time, I didn’t want to get hung on it if I didn’t like it. However, after watching how it’s worked in my fields, I have every intention of purchasing this machine next year when the lease comes back around.”
Roughly pegged, the 412R is a $500,000 sprayer. “I didn’t have any equity going in. The payment on this one is about $80,000 a year. On top of that, I’ve got the $28,000 annual subscription and unlimited acres.”
Beyond mid-season, how is Romine’s big-money purchase penciling?
Serious Long-Term
All told, across 15,000 acres, Romine projects total savings for the season to be in the $120,000 ballpark.
“In our initial first post-emergence pass, we went with glyphosate, and for easy figuring, we saved about $3.40 an acre in unapplied acres,” Romine details from the seat of the 412R as the machine reaches a turn row following an application. “That’s on 10,000 acres of cotton. We also fallow sprayed a bunch of wheat. We got really, really wet about the time we needed to be cutting, so we had to come back and burn the weeds off so that it would be cleaned up enough to combine. Between all of that, maybe 14,000 acres that we went over, we saved about $3.40. In other words, we made back our subscription plus a little bit extra.”
As Romine speaks, the 412R boom folds in preparation for the next field of dicamba-ready crops. However, with temps above 90 F for the past 24 hours, he’s restricted from running dicamba due to inversion concerns. Instead, Romine is spraying glufosinate.
“Here’s another example: glufosinate costs around $13.80 per gallon, and I just saved 40% on this 220-acre field, so that figures to $4 an acre for a total of $880. Maybe that doesn’t sound like much to some people, but when you take that across more fields, and across an entire year, that money gets serious in the long-term.”
A Working Theory
Splitting Romine’s family-associated acreage into a personally-farmed 3,500 acres, his typical annual bill prior to See & Spray, for sprayer payment, broadcast application, and two post applications, was $185,000.
“This year, for the same, I’ll be at about $167,000. “Once again, at first you might not think that’s a whole lot, but when you consider I’m going to purchase this machine and turn that payment into equity in my operation, then it’s a big deal.”
Additionally, Romine contends, savings may be available via increased yield in field areas receiving no herbicide. “There are always acres where you don’t need to apply chemicals for whatever reason. Those spots tend to stay clean on their own. I’ve heard about research showing single-digit percentage yield increases on clean areas. Why? I can’t prove or disprove it, but the theory is those plants, even though relatively immune, don’t have to process and use resources to maintain themselves after getting doused in a spray. That might mean a 5-7% increase in yield.”
After 2026 picking, Romine will lay yield maps over application maps to note any correlation. “It’s ancillary and just a working theory, but it could end up being another real benefit of See & Spray.”
No Misses
How well does See & Spray’s AI tech work in Romine’s rows?
Generally, he rolls at 12 mph (roughly 210-220 acres per hour), with an increase to 15 mph when applying glyphosate.
He maintains boom height of 20-25” above canopy and keeps spray sensitivity settings on low as his cotton is squaring and nearing bloom. “I run it low because it will pick up the squares and sometimes think there’s a weed there when there’s not.
Buffer length is medium. “Basically, that’s the amount of time, front to back, that a nozzle sprays over a weed. Medium helps me make sure I get good coverage. So far, I haven’t seen See & Spray miss anything.”
However, Romine deals with plenty of Texas dust. On average, he cleans cameras every two days with water and a microfiber towel. “It’s pretty sandy around here, and because the tires kick up dust, sometimes you don’t get a really good kill directly behind the wheel tracks. I combat that during the second spraying by offsetting 60’ to where my wing tips are running in my last pass—where the wheel tracks were. So far, that’s an effective fix.”
Tale-of-the-Tape Judgement
Overall, Romine estimates a general 35% reduction in chemical use every time he runs, along with a substantial drop in reloading time.
“If you have enough acres to justify the cost, or if you’re already that big, I would highly recommend you look at See & Spray. Personally, I’d say if you’re above 3,000 acres, this may be worth it for you. No question, this is a net positive for our family operation, and there are going to be add-ons that increase the value soon, including stand counts.”
“Whatever the newer technology, whether a tractor, sprayer, or something else, leveraging some of that technology is really advantageous,” he adds. “It comes down to less passes and efficiency.”
Bottom line, Romine sticks to a tale-of-the-tape judgement.
“I’m not trying to speak for guys in the Midwest or other regions of the country, but for us on our operation, we’re seeing a $5 to $7 an acre reduction in expenditures. Break the numbers down and you’ll know what works best for your farm.”
For more from Chris Bennett (@ChrisBennettMS or cbennett@farmjournal.com or 662-592-1106), see:
Corn and Cocaine: Roger Reaves and the Most Incredible Farm Story Never Told
How the Deep State Tried, and Failed, to Crush an American Farmer
Game of Horns: Iowa Poacher’s Antler Addiction Leads to Historic Bust
Ghost Cattle: $650M Ponzi Rocks Livestock Industry, Money Still Missing
When Conservation Backfires: Landowner Defeats Feds in Mindboggling Private Property Case
