The options for custom-modifying sprayers continue to grow, giving farmers more choice in which precision spray systems they use on their machines.
At the recent Huron County Plowing Match, the Huron Soil and Crop Improvement Association assembled four sprayers and a drone to show farmers the latest in precise spray application. The mix of brands and retrofits showed the range of options farmers now have for sprayers.
WHY IT MATTERS: Mix-and-match spray technology opens up options for farmers to update existing implements.
For example, pulse width modulation isn’t new, but there are increasing options to retrofit speciality systems when they aren’t installed at the factory. Pulse width modulation systems use electric solenoids to control nozzle opening and closing, providing greater precision than using boom pressure to manage sprayer nozzle variation.
The sprayers showed off various functions in the field, especially spot spraying broadleaf weeds, which, in this case, were soybeans planted among the oat cover crop.
Reclaiming boom cleanliness
Argis 2000, a supplier of aftermarket parts for many different cropping functions, brought an older John Deere sprayer to the event. It was fitted with a PTx Reclaim boom recirculation system. These systems, which clean out the booms by recirculating water and air, can help make sure there’s no residual in the sprayer, limiting risk of cross-contamination the next time the sprayer is used.
There are options, depending on what you want purged, says Dan Breckon of Agris 2000. They include a water purge of fresh water in the boom, but also an air purge of the system.
“You can minimize your risk to a number that’s negligible,” says Breckon.
The John Deere sprayer was also fitted with other PTx tech, including the Symphony pulse wave modulation system and the Symphony vision camera system, which identifies weeds and sprays them individually.
Next to the Agris 2000-equipped sprayer was a Fendt Rogator sprayer from HJV fitted with a BBLeap pulse wave modulation system.
BBLeap is a sprayer technology system, founded by three people with long experience in agricultural machinery from the Netherlands and South Africa.
Pulse frequency on the BBLeap system can change from once per second to 100 times per second.
The system can ensure a nearly perfect spray pattern, meaning the right droplet size and spray distribution. That means the system can do spot spraying with a map that shows weed locations.
A camera system for on-the-go spot spraying is being developed, said Koen Voordendag, from BBLeap at the event.
The system can be put onto sprayers of many makes and ages. The machine itself might be in decent shape, but the sprayer technology might be out of date, and the BBLeap system can provide an upgrade.
On turns, the outer nozzles vary frequency differently from the inside nozzles to maintain a steady spray pattern.
The ability to precisely control droplet size means that in windier conditions, there’s more flexibility to increase droplet size to reduce drift and drive on.
The company has about 240 systems installed on sprayers around the world.
Photo: John Greig
Spot spraying of weeds evolves
John Deere dealer Huron Tractor brought a 412 sprayer equipped with See and Spray Premium to the event.
This is the second year that the system has been available in Ontario, says Matt McCallum from Huron Tractor.
John Deere is constantly improving the system, he says.
The system can spot spray into row widths down to 20-inch corn and 15-inch soybeans.
“Looking forward into 2027, we’re going to have the ability to spray canola, wheat and barley (and) edible beans. We’ll be able to pick weeds out of those crops.”
The system knows the crop it is protecting, so if it’s in a corn field, it will see every other plant as a weed, but if it’s in a wheat field and there is volunteer corn, the corn will be hit with spray.
There are lighting limitations for some functions, said McCallum. Spraying at night only works for spraying a bare field for weeds, but not in crop.
Mitch Consitt of Brussels Agromart brought a Hagie sprayer to the event. He’s sprayed more than 45,000 acres with the unit in the past two years.
The John Deere-owned Hagie brand is a front-boom sprayer. That means the operator can see the boom tips more easily.
“You look out to the left a little bit, you look out to the right a little bit. Everything’s right there. You can see your spray pattern all the time,” he says.
The sprayer had a lot of the new technology discussed during the Huron Soil and Crop Improvement Association demo installed, including a recirculating boom and ExactApply, John Deere’s PWM system.
“I find you know when you go from an eight-section, nine-section machine down to the individual nozzle control, I have noticed you’re probably saving three to four per cent or more,” he said.
The Hagie also has an AutoTrac Vision row sensor system, which uses cameras to help the sprayer follow rows of corn and limit operator fatigue.
Airborne also now an option
Mike Verhoog of Drone Spray Canada brought a DJI T100 to the demonstration. The drone market is still developing; talking about add-ons like the larger sprayers is not yet the conversation. However, he pitched drone spraying as most beneficial over crops with canopy, such as spraying corn with herbicides.
The cost of drone spraying is also low. Verhoog says it costs about $1 an acre, plus about $1.50 per acre in depreciation to run the drone.
Sprayer technology continues to evolve, giving farmers more choice, but also adding costs to already-expensive machines.
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