New technology recently introduced by John Deere helps save time and money—See and Spray Select. Joel Basinger of John Deere said See and Spray Select only sprays the weeds that it can see in your field.

“So, this is a really exciting new product we've launched, and what it's given growers that have chemical fallow and the rotation, the ability to only spray the emerged weeds. So, if you look at the testing we've done over the last year, we've seen where customers can save on average 77 % of that pre emerge fallow chemical application. So, really a neat technology that's going to open up different options for our growers.”

This new technology allows farmers who are battling herbicide resistance in their fields to utilize more expensive and complex tank mixes and achieve a more effective weed kill at a lower cost.

“The best option is changing up those modes of action, adding more complex tank mixes, but that also comes at an increased expense. So, with See and Spray Select, they can go to those more complex mixes, but since we're only applying where the weeds are, we really can actually save money, compared to doing just a broadcast application of that tank mix.”

The system may sound complicated, but Basinger says its relatively simple for growers to use.

“While it seems complicated, this is pretty simple as far as what the grower sees. So, we've got a system of 36 cameras across the boom, that are analyzing about 2,000 square feet every second, they're looking for that green weed on the brown background, it sees it, analyzes it, actuates the ExactApply nozzle body just above the weed and sprays it all in around 200 milliseconds. So customers, they really don't see much, they flip the switch, turn on See and Spray, and then we go across, just spray the weeds that are in the field and saving that chemical.”

See and Spray Select can be equipped on new model year 2022 and newer John Deere 400 and 600 Series Sprayers. Basinger said it’s not the only option, when equipped, adding you can do a traditional broadcast spray by simply changing some settings.

“So, that's one of the big innovations we've got now. You can spot spray, but if you need to switch over and do a traditional broadcast spray, it's just changing settings in the cab. If you're using the same tank mix, you would just switch the setting on your display, go to your next field and do a broadcast. Really, we're the only OEM that offers this capability to do spot spray and broadcast all on the same machine., So really improving overall asset utilization.”

And See and Spray Select is just the beginning. Basinger said John Deere is working on additional technologies for the future.

“We're really focusing on those customers that have chemical fallow in their crop rotation, we understand that there is needs out there for in-season identification of say that pigweed within our cornfield, and we're really working to develop that this is the foundation the beginning, and we will continue to have products that move into other cropping systems.”

Visit John Deere On-line, or head to you local John Deere Dealer to learn more.

If you have a story idea for the PNW Ag Network, call (509) 547-1618, or e-mail gvaagen@cherrycreekmedia.com

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