HARDI uncovers GeoSelect spot spraying system

Spraying specialist, HARDI, has launched its groundbreaking new product, GeoSelect, which the company says will help farmers fight weed problems in their paddocks while simultaneously saving significant money, labour, chemicals and water.

GeoSelect is a spot spraying system which selectively sprays weed on the ground as the sprayer passes over it but, unlike existing systems on the market, HARDI says it does not require any camera installation on booms and isn’t restricted by boom width or paddock size.

The technology was developed in-house at HARDI Australia’s headquarters in South Australia by a team of experts in the organisation’s Innovation department, who spent over two years developing, fine-tuning and testing the product.

The patent-pending product essentially utilises spatial data obtained through drones, manned aircraft or satellite to identify the exact location of weeds in a farmer’s paddock, serving up this information to farmers even before they head out to the paddock.

In addition to exact weed coordinates, the system also provides farmers with real-time information and suggestions on spraying practices, such as the optimum speed to drive at in certain parts of the paddock to achieve maximum efficiency and savings, or skipping certain run lines altogether due to absence of weeds in a particular area.

A series of GNSS antennas mounted along the boom help automate the spraying process by ‘communicating’ with the sprayer and system to open the correct nozzle on the boom right above the weed in order to target it with centimeter accuracy, says HARDI.

GeoSelect is an app-based system that can be displayed on a screen in the cab or on any mobile device the farmer chooses to use. It also allows dealers to access the system remotely for servicing or troubleshooting purposes.

According to GeoSelect’s creators, the system presents multiple benefits over existing spot spraying systems on the market.

Speaking with farmmachinerysales.com.au, one of GeoSelect's creators, Heath Thompson, explains that outlay and operation costs for GeoSelect are significantly reduced because there are no expensive items involved.

Existing systems on the market require the installation of optical sensors (WEED-IT and WeedSeeker) or cameras (Agrifac's AiCPlus) on sprayer booms at certain intervals.

“With camera systems, the most expensive items are the cameras mounted on the boom, which makes them vulnerable to damage when spraying,” he says.

If the boom is accidentally damaged while spraying, it’s therefore a major expense for a farmer to rectify.

The mounting of cameras also adds extra weight and strain on the boom, whereas GeoSelect only involves the installation of several lightweight antennas on the boom, HARDI says.

“GeoSelect works with HARDI’s H-Select nozzle tech to spot spray,” says GeoSelect co-creator, Andrew Snowball.

“It takes over one nozzle while H-Select controls the other three, so besides the antennas and extra solenoids, there is no additional hardware on the boom to worry about.”

RELATED: H-Select nozzle control now available on COMMANDER models

“One of the issues with prescription mapping is that it is restricted by the size of farms, but we are not restrained in size at all with our system,” Thompson says.

Spraying speed is also not an issue, according to Snowball, as it doesn’t require cameras to detect the weed, process the data and make a decision then and there like other systems on the market.

“GeoSelect already knows the weed positions before entering the paddock, so it can prepare and get the fluid system ready for spraying,” he says.

“Therefore, we're not regulated to 12, 14, or 18km/h, for example. So if farmers wish to spray at 25km/h, they can.”

Boom width does not matter either with GeoSelect, which Snowball says is scalable to suit farmers’ needs.

“Camera systems usually require the installation of one camera every metre but we're not limited like that. We can do 36m, 48.5m or even 54m booms, no worries at all.

“This is especially important given machinery in Australia is getting bigger, so we need to cater to that.”

As mentioned, GeoSelect produces a detailed map with weed locations and presents it to farmers before they even head into the paddock, which allows them to plan ahead.

By knowing exactly how much weed is in the paddock, farmers are able to make informed decisions about how much chemical to mix, which areas to skip, and when to speed up or slow down etc.

“Farmers might even scan the paddock and then decide not to spray because there is just not enough out there,” Snowball says.

“With a camera sprayer, you don’t really know how much weed is on the ground until you drive over the paddock.”

After spraying, the system captures meta-data as proof of placement to facilitate the planning of future spray maps, for example.

“We're recording at the same centimetre level as the spatial data, which means we're getting close to a per plant kind of history as per cattle and other agricultural industries,” Thompson explains.

“Because we can see and track what happened to a particular plant or area on the paddock over time, that might mean a farmer might be able to sell his crop for more money, for example.

“Over two or three years, the farmer will also be able to know where their hotspots are for particular weeds and might be able to then strategically spray pre-emergent or a more expensive chemical on the hotspots to prevent weeds. So it gives farmers a lot of options to really fight a much fairer battle against weeds.”

The GeoSelect team has put the system through thorough testing to ensure it will deliver the savings it promises.

“We’ve done field trials in New South Wales and in South Australia, where we tested our system against a blanket spray operation, and found that GeoSelect is able to reduce chemical use and costs by up to 90 per cent,” Thompson says.

The significant reduction in chemical helps farmers maintain a more environmentally sustainable operation, while also affording more targeted and expensive chemicals to reduce weed resistance, HARDI says.

At present, GeoSelect is designed to work with HARDI’s Rubicon and other self-propelled sprayers for summer (fallow) spraying.

The company sells the sprayer itself and the equipment on the sprayer, but not the drone for capturing data.

“The farmer is free to get that spatial data from whatever source they wish, whether it be their own drone or using a contractor, or using satellite data,” Snowball says.

“We're not particular with the type of drone but we will be able to recommend which type will give good results,” Thompson adds.

“The GeoSelect system has an open architecture which isn’t restricted by the type of data that can go in and we’re happy to work with farmers to figure out what works best for them.”

HARDI hopes to offer a similar product for trailed sprayers in 2022.

The team is also conducting green-on-green (in crop) trials to gauge GeoSelect’s effectiveness in detecting and spraying weeds among crops.

“But what we’re basically saying is, if you can see it from the sky, then our system can spray it,” Thompson says.

HARDI says interested customers can place orders via dealerships now for product delivery in early 2022, in time for summer spraying.