John Deere Acquires Smart Apply Air-Blast Spray Technology

Wed, 06 Sep 2023 20:49:59 GMT

In mid-July John Deere announced its acquisition of Smart Apply.

Smart Apply is based in Indianapolis and focused its product development on precision air-blast spraying. Its Intelligent Spray Control System can be used in orchards, vineyards or tree nurseries to:

Reduce overall chemical use on average by 50%
Reduce Airborne drift up 87%
Achieve 93% reduction in run off
Use on average 50% less water

The two companies had worked together since 2020 when an allied distribution agreement was announced.

Smart Apply was founded in 2014. At the time of its acquisition, the company had 20 full-time employees.

“This is a natural progression of the two companies’ working relationship,” said Mike Bailey, director, Small Tractor & HVC Production System at John Deere. “It’s a continuation of our commitment to high-value crop customers and dealers, further expanding a portfolio of solutions to help growers address their biggest challenges around labor, input costs, and regulatory requirements, while achieving environmental goals.”

Smart Apply’s Intelligent Spray Control uses LiDAR technology to sense individual trees/vines, calculate foliage density and then automatically adjust spray volume and eliminate spraying between trees/vines.

“Both John Deere and Smart Apply recognize the importance of high-value crops. We are committed to investing in innovation and technology that best serves producers who raise high-value crops and helps solve their problems,” said Jerry Johnson, president and CEO at Smart Apply.

The system also collects data from the field applications such as:

date and time of spraying
overall spray volumes
chemical savings
tree counts
canopy volume
health of individual trees or vines
acres/hectares sprayed

Specialties

John Deere Acquires Smart Apply Air-Blast Spray Technology