To provide agricultural producers with more control over the spraying of non-residual herbicide in their fields, John Deere has rolled out See & Spray™ Ultimate. The factory-installed system will be available for model year 2023 John Deere 410R, 412R, and 612R Sprayers. With See & Spray Ultimate, operators will be able to control weeds among soybean, corn, and cotton plants thanks to more targeted spraying.
"We've been on a technology journey with our customers since broadcast spraying," said Franklin Peitz, marketing manager for John Deere. "We moved to a zone-focus with section control and then advanced to individual row control with ExactApply™. We're excited to optimize each individual plant using See & Spray's artificial intelligence and machine learning."
Blue River Technology, a subsidiary of John Deere, designed the targeted spray technology in See & Spray Ultimate. The system works by leveraging cameras and processors mounted on a carbon-fiber truss-style boom. One camera is mounted every one meter across the width of the boom, which is equal to 36 cameras on a 120-foot boom. In combination with machine learning, weeds are easily detected from crop plants out in the field.
"While operating at up to 12 mph, See & Spray Ultimate's targeted spray technology can help farmers reduce their non-residual herbicide use by more than two-thirds and maintain a hit rate comparable to traditional spraying," Peitz continued. "For farmers, this decreased herbicide use can significantly lower herbicide costs, reduce tendering stops, and helps them cover more acres per day."
See & Spray Ultimate also has a split tank with dual-product capability. The two available tank options are 1,200 and 1,000 gallons. The 1,200-gallon option is divided into a 450-gallon tank for target spraying and a 750-gallon tank for broadcast spraying. Meanwhile, the 1,000-gallon option is split into a 350-gallon tank for targeted spraying and a 650-gallon tank for broadcast spraying.
Limited quantities will be available to order later this year, and more information can be found from your John Deere dealer or by visiting www.Deere.com.