John Deere has announced its industry-leading, AI-powered weed sensing system, See & Spray Premium, will be available for order, in the US only, on model year 2025 Hagie STS sprayers.
John Deere Production Systems Manager, Ben Kelly, said the transformational system, which activates individual spray nozzles when target weeds are “seen” by boom-mounted cameras, could reduce postemergence herbicide use by more than 50%.
“Australian customers have already seen first-hand See & Spray Select’s ability to substantially reduce herbicide use and spearhead input cost savings for targeted spraying on fallow ground,”
Mr Kelly said.
“See & Spray Premium is a green-on-green solution that is the next evolution of See & Spray technology, and its availability on Hagie STS sprayers means more contractors and growers will have access to one of the world’s most powerful tools available for maximising cost-efficiency and in-field productivity in corn, soybean and cotton crops.”
Marked reduction in herbicide use
See & Spray Premium uses its system of boom-mounted cameras to scan more than 195 square metres of crop per second as the sprayer is in motion, with on-board processors determining whether an individual plant is crop or weed. Those processors send commands to individual ExactApply nozzles, which deliver a precise dose of herbicide only to the weed.
“In addition to a marked decrease in herbicide use, this technology also reduces required water stops, while supporting increased efficiency and better yield. It is also a powerful channel to accurately and easily collect and document information to help growers make management decisions based on real on-farm data.”
Mr Kelly said.
In combination with John Deere Operations Center, the system gathers data from each application.
“After spraying, application data is sent to John Deere Operations Center where growers and their agronomists can view layered maps showing where individual inputs were applied, while the chemical savings are compared to a broadcast application,”
Mr Kelly said.
Improving the operator experience
In addition to See & Spray Premium, model year 2025 Hagie STS sprayers will be available with the John Deere G5PLUS display and integrated StarFire™ 7500 receiver, enabling the use of the most advanced John Deere guidance, documentation and automation products while offering a larger, faster, higher-definition operator interface.
“The faster processor in the display can import and export large guidance files in half the time of previous displays, and gives faster boot times, while the integrated StarFire 7500 receiver with optional SF-RTK offers greater accuracy and repeatability, so boundaries and lines don’t shift from season to season,” Mr Kelly said.
A game-changing innovation
With input costs rising and margins shrinking, See & Spray Premium is positioned to be a genuine game-changer for contractors and growers who need to make the most of their time and chemical investment.
“See & Spray is the most impactful product developed by John Deere in 80 years of self-propelled sprayers, and we’re proud to continue our history of bringing intelligent, class-leading solutions to industry,” Mr Kelly said.
“While See & Spray Premium is not yet available locally, we understand the demand for this technology in Australia and the value it will deliver when available.
“That’s why we are working to apply See & Spray Premium to additional sprayer platforms and provide more sprayer configurations and compatibility for Australian growers when it is launched here.”
To learn more about Hagie STS sprayers, contact your local John Deere dealer.
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