Deere launches See & Spray Ultimate

In 2022, John Deere is upping the ante in the spot spraying game by releasing its new See & Spray Ultimate product, which is the next step up from its See & Spray Select technology announced last year.

The Ultimate product will first be rolled out as a factory-installed system on limited numbers of John Deere 410R, 412R and 612R Sprayers in the United States, for model year 2023.

The See & Spray spot spraying technologies were designed by Blue River Technology, a John Deere subsidiary, in collaboration with the University of South Queensland. The Select product was first announced in early 2021 and is capable of spot spraying weeds in fallow ground.

The Ultimate product will be able to target weeds in green crop, taking spot spraying to the next level, John Deere said. At present, the technology is suited for use in cotton, corn and soybean.

John Deere Precision Ag Segment Manager, Ben Kelly, said See & Spray technologies would grow to become a keystone within the suite of precision agriculture tools available to farmers to optimise performance and sustainability.

“This is an exciting advancement that is part of a spraying journey that has, over time, moved from broadcast spraying to individual nozzle control with ExactApply™, to now targeting individual plants using artificial intelligence and machine learning,” Kelly said.

Like See & Spray Select, See & Spray Ultimate has cameras and processors mounted on the boom. There is one camera mounted every 1m across the width of the boom, which equates to 36 cameras on a 36m (120-foot) boom scanning more than 195 square metres (2,100 square feet) at once.

According to John Deere, See & Spray Ultimate can help farmers reduce non-residual herbicide use in season by more than two thirds, while maintaining a hit rate comparable to traditional spraying.

This decreased herbicide use can significantly lower input costs and reduce the number of refills helping to cover more hectares per day.

“While the initial results being seen in the US are extremely impressive and we understand that in-crop weed control is a priority for Australian farmers, it is going to take time to iterate and scale this technology into local regions,” Kelly said.

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“For Australian farmers, the exciting news is that the first of the See & Spray Select equipped sprayers are arriving right now. These were launched in limited quantities last year but will be widely available to order in mid-2022.”

The See & Spray Select currently comes factory installed on 400 and 600 Series sprayers.

John Deere claims its See & Spray Select product is capable of rapidly detecting and target spraying weeds in brown soil, and by doing so uses an average 77 per cent less herbicide (compared to traditional sprayers).

Using See & Spray Select, farmers can apply more expensive and complex tank mixes more efficiently, and easily switch from targeted to broadcast spraying without leaving the cab, John Deere said.

“After our initial launch and local demonstrations last year, we are looking forward to seeing the positive impact See & Spray Select technology will have for our customers this season and are excited about what the future journey with See & Spray Ultimate can deliver,” Kelly said.

For more information about See & Spray Select, visit John Deere's website.