The Saskatoon company’s camera-based system mounts on a sprayer boom and captures field conditions as farmers make passes across the field. Using machine learning, it analyzes thousands of images to generate crop and weed maps, along with plant stand counts.

WHY IT MATTERS: In-season imaging can give farmers a clearer picture of how crops are performing across different parts of the field, helping fine-tune future decisions.

The system was first introduced in a limited rollout in 2022 and went through on-farm testing before expanding more broadly. Early versions were installed on a small number of farms to gather data and refine the technology.

“We spend a couple of years using the product in the field before it’s commercialized,” CEO Cory Willness said.

“By the time something gets commercialized, it has already been used internally and has been through pretty rigorous testing.”

Adding in-season data to zone maps

SWAT Cam is designed to complement the company’s core SWAT Maps platform, which divides fields into management zones based on soil, water and topography. While those maps are relatively static, SWAT Cam adds a layer of in-season observation.

As the sprayer moves through the field, cameras mounted on the boom capture images every 50 to 60 feet. Those images are processed to measure plant populations and identify weed pressure and are then overlaid onto existing zone maps.

“It’s really a tool that uses the SWAT Map as the base underneath to define what’s happening in different areas of the field,” he said.

The system is not designed to make real-time decisions. Instead, it provides information that farmers and agronomists can use to evaluate performance and adjust management in future seasons.

For example, growers can use the data to compare expected and actual plant stands or identify patterns in crop performance across different parts of a field. In some cases, that can lead to changes in seeding rates or other input decisions.

“It’s information that helps them make better decisions in the future,” he said.

“It’s like a quick check-up tool.”

Adoption to date has been concentrated in Western Canada, where the company operates both directly with farmers and through a partner network.

The technology can be used on crops such as canola, wheat and soybeans, although its effectiveness depends on crop stage and canopy conditions.

The milestone offers a snapshot of how Croptimistic’s platform is expanding beyond its original focus on soil-based mapping.

Building beyond soil maps

In recent months, the company has introduced a series of new initiatives aimed at building out that platform, including SWAT Labs, an in-house soil testing facility, and a white paper outlining its approach to regenerative agriculture.

Together, those efforts point to two sides of the company’s development — expanding its core services while building new tools and frameworks around them.

“We have what I call an innovation engine and a business engine,” Willness said.

SWAT Labs is an example of the “business engine,” reflecting an effort to bring more of the soil data pipeline under one roof, from sampling through analysis.

The white paper, meanwhile, falls under “innovation,” and signals a push to shape how that data is interpreted and used in agronomic decision-making.

“These initiatives are building toward bigger things,” he said.

The post Croptimistic’s SWAT Cam maps one million acres appeared first on Farmtario.

The five-nozzle pulse-width modulation (PWM) system provides nozzle-by-nozzle control, independent of rate and pressure, to maintain consistent droplet size.

WHY IT MATTERS: The technology aims to maximize efficiency, reduce input costs, increase yield and expand as Precision Planting develops and releases new accessories.

Jordan Wallace, GPS Ontario’s co-owner, explained there are four system versions, starting with the Symphony Nozzle, which provides row-by-row, or nozzle-by-nozzle, section and pressure control.

“We can baby-step our way into the technology as growers want to evolve into PWM nozzle control with turn compensations right up to green-on-green spray technology — the ability to auto-detect a weed into the actual canopy itself,” said Wallace. “They (farmers) don’t have to change their fleet to be able to take advantage of the technology.”

The total investment is about US$170,000 or C$233,000 (Symphony nozzles: C$68,500, Symphony rate cameras: C$82,200, Symphony Spot: US$82,200, plus taxes), making advanced spray technology more accessible. This compares to around $1 million for a new sprayer boom, offering significant savings while delivering advanced spraying benefits.

“In eastern Ontario, for example, last year we had a devastating crop year, so the cash flow isn’t there to go and buy a new million-dollar machine on a five-year financing,” said Wallace. “A Symphony nozzle at US$170,000 is opening up that technology for that grower to be as profitable as possible, reducing as many input costs as possible and gaining as much yield as possible.”

If the nozzles are connected to Precision Planting’s Gen 3 20/20 monitor, operators receive real-time metrics on individual nozzle duty cycles, along with rate and pressure adjustments, to quickly adapt to a field’s needs.

“This is one of the products that we’re really excited about for this year, because we see a huge advancement in some scenarios,” he said. “Some of the data sets we’ve looked at are anywhere between $20 and $25 an acre in chemical savings and application savings.”

Controlled rate and pressure

On the Gen 3 20/20, Wallace ran the display nozzles at 17 gallons per acre at five miles per hour using the red tips. He increased the pressure to 40 psi, and the pump kicked in, creating enough back pressure to maintain the faster pulse control, which also allowed him to manipulate the droplet size.

“I can run at 10 miles an hour and still use the same tips, providing I’m in that range, we just have to adjust what the pressure is that we want to maintain,” he said. “That’s where the pulsing comes in, and as we get to a corner, these nozzles (on the outside) will actually run faster because we’re covering more surface area, and these ones (on the inside) will slow down because we’re covering less area.”

Wallace theorizes, depending on field size, shape, etc., operators could achieve a five to 10 per cent chemical reduction on the headlands.

“It’s not the chemical savings that’s the big part, it’s the yield improvement, because your crop doesn’t have to metabolize two doses of chemical,” he explained. “Now I only have 20 inches of overlap, not 10 to 12 feet of overlap.”

READ MORE: How to choose the right sprayer nozzle

Turning the nozzles is as easy as turning a tap, with some operators choosing a specific nozzle and preloading the Symphony so that if one nozzle plugs, they can simply switch to the next. No mess, no tools.

“The nozzle bodies themselves are very low-cost. This whole nozzle assembly is US$107 (C$146), right? Because there’s no PWM sensor, there’s just a 12-volt solenoid that we’re pulsing,” he explained. “If something breaks, I’m not changing a $1,000 nozzle.”

If the nozzle body breaks, an operator can pull two pins, fully service the whole system, and pop it back on for US$27 (C$37), no additional reprogramming required.

“There are technologies coming down the line that are also pairing with it,” he said. “Something like SmokeRow, which is actually Precision Planting’s fence row nozzle.”

Edge-of-field weed control

SmokeRow, an end-of-the-boom nozzle, addresses the edge-of-field weed sink, and rather than allowing that seed bank to blow into the field, it uses an individual chemical tank and pump for control up to 15 feet without cross-contamination concerns.

Symphony Reclaim replaces the end cap deadhead zone with a retainer line back to the tank on a selection valve, which allows chemicals within the boom to flush back to the tank overnight. Wallace said it eliminates potential chemical crossover from granular products that don’t flush easily from the end caps and provides an edge-of-field option to ensure active chemical is across the boom without waste.

“I haven’t killed any crop. I haven’t thrown chemicals into a ditch. I haven’t created a puddle or a pool on the edge of the field,” he said. “We’re actually able to keep everything rolling properly and make sure that we have good, solid weed kill all the time.”

He anticipates the release of Symphony Duo shortly, adding second-boom plumbing for chemical-to-chemical switching between zones without cross-contamination.

This allows real-time dual application at 15 mph and the Symphony system can retrofit any sprayer boom, no matter its age.

Currently, there are five Symphony Spot units in Ontario, according to the winter conference Wallace attended, but interest is increasing, especially amid rising fuel and fertilizer costs in March.

The post Symphony Nozzle system breathes new life into older sprayers appeared first on Farmtario.

The in-person conferences in Ridgetown, Waterloo and Kemptville, or the virtual option, will offer courses that elevate agricultural knowledge and foster province-wide collaboration among farmers, agronomists, researchers and agri-food professionals.

“Our goal is to make leading-edge research and agronomic expertise available to every farmer in Ontario — regardless of where they farm,” said Crosby Devitt, Grain Farmers of Ontario CEO. “The virtual and on-demand options make it easier than ever to stay connected and informed.”

Southwest Agricultural Conference (SWAC), Ridgetown Campus, University of Guelph, Jan. 6-7, 2026

Two days of expert insight, hands-on learning and networking featuring keynote speakers with “Under the Influence’s” Terry O’Reilly sharing Stories that Grow Trust, encouraging farmers to engage with the public through compelling storytelling and Dr. Jody Carrington with Reignite! a heartfelt appeal to reconnect, recharge, and rediscover passion and purpose.

Participants can choose between four one-hour concurrent sessions on agronomic and production, and a two-hour Sprayer Clinic offered twice daily by CASE IH and John Deere specialists.

January 6 offers a “Taste Ontario” event and tradeshow with the latest crop production innovations.

MidWest Agricultural Conference (MWAC) at RIM Park, Waterloo, Jan. 16, 2026

A full day of the latest field crop innovation and information, including interactive hot topic discussions for the 2026 growing season, such as Strip Till Show and Tell, Feeding the Soil and the Crop, I Robot, What’s happening, and are we ready?, along with networking opportunities and tradeshow.

Eastern Ontario Crop Conference (EOCC) at the Southgate Church in Kemptville, January 27, 2026

The EOCC emphasizes eastern Ontario issues such as Biocontrol Breakthroughs and New Pest Mysteries, From Stover to Stand, On-farm lessons for No Till soybeans after corn, and Record-Breaking Wheat: Learnings from the Great Lakes YEN, with two concurrent sessions per hour and a tradeshow for networking.

Each participant will have access to 50 on-demand recorded sessions from the SWAC, MWAC and the EOCC, along with selected live-streamed sessions from Ridgetown and Waterloo, until March 31, 2026.

Additionally, TEC Talk Tuesday, an interactive, topic-focused virtual discussion series with conference speakers, returns throughout January and February at 7:27 p.m., with recordings available after the fact.

“We’ve seen incredible success with the hybrid format,” said Rob Miller, Regional Technical Service Manager, BASF Canada. “Attendees value being able to learn in-person, network with peers, and then revisit sessions later online. That flexibility keeps the information accessible long after the conference ends.”

Registration for the in-person and virtual options can be found at Ontarioagconferences.ca or through the partnering conference’s websites at Ridgetown’s southwestagconference.ca, Waterloo’s heartlandsoilcrop.org/mwac or Kemptville’s www.eocc.eastontcropconference.ca.

The post Registration open for Ontario Agricultural Conference appeared first on Farmtario.

Holding up several corn stalks nearly ready to tassel, but goosenecked with fused roots, the Bayer Crop Science agronomic solutions advisor asked participants to assess what had happened.

“My corn looked awesome until just a few days ago, and all of a sudden it looks like this,” Freitag began. “Look at the tassels. Some of it’s definitely not going to be able to come out of there. I don’t know what the heck is going on.”

Why it matters: Plant staging accuracy, timing and weather conditions can significantly impact crop health and yield related to herbicide application.

Max Van den Borre, a BASF sales intern and University of Guelph Food and Agricultural Business student, played the role of an agronomist, peppering Freitag with questions.

When was the corn sprayed, and at what stage was it? What was used in the sprayer previously, and was this injury widespread or occurring in specific areas, such as the headlands, low or high areas of the field?

She answered the rapid-fire questions just as quickly.

At the end of May, at about the four- or five-leaf stage, she sprayed Roundup and Marksman at a rate of one litre per acre, with no potential sprayer input contamination. She’d used Roundup on some beans previously, and she’d never encountered previous incidents of injury with the application, noting it was not a Dicamba-sensitive hybrid.

“It was just in a few areas of the field; not every plant was like this, but there were areas where every plant was and then the odd one otherwise. There wasn’t really a pattern,” she said. “Maybe (in) the better parts of the field.”

It was that final statement that Van den Borre seized on.

“Was the crop more advanced in those areas? What was that stage? How did you stage it?” he questioned.

Freitag smiled, acknowledging she was impressed with the calibre of questioning.

“I didn’t really walk the whole field. Most of it looked like it was four- or five-leaf stage. I guess some of it could have been a little further ahead. I’m not sure,” Freitag said. “I just looked at it – one, two, three, four. The label goes up to five-leaf, so I figured I was pretty safe. But after I sprayed, it got really cold (at night), and (the temperatures) weren’t too bad during the day.”

With that, Freitag started a lesson on how improper staging and weather can wreak havoc on plant development because, despite Dicamba’s five-leaf label, she prefers to apply it no later than four-leaf.

“If it was on the upper end of that (five-leaf) staging or beyond, and those fluctuating temperatures – I think that combination is what hit it,” said Frietag.

BASF’s Distinct products have a little more latitude for later applications, but the early post-emerge products require extra care, she reiterated.

Participants debated whether Freitag’s early-stage corn plant example’s top leaf was considered “over” with another leaf emerging. Freitag said producers should overestimate leaf stage rather than underestimate, noting the coleoptile — the first, shorter, round-tip leaf — counts, even if removed, because the plant recognizes it was there. It’s possible the producer didn’t count it, she theorized.

“It’s really easy to stage corn wrong,” she said. “It’s critical that the applicator knows, or farmer knows – whoever’s making that call on when to spray – knows. Especially with any Dicamba products.”

Fluctuating temperatures can influence the staging throughout the field and impact how Dicamba application metabolizes the corn once it hits the rapid growth phase.

Last year, she assessed a field sprayed with Dicamba and Marksman at the six- to seven-leaf stage, which displayed some goosenecking and twisting.

“The farmer kind of laughed at me that I was panicking that he did that,” Freitag said, adding excellent growing conditions at application and after likely minimized the impact, resulting in a 200-bushel yield.

She explained that two weeks of cold, harsh weather could have stunted corn height but not the leaf stage, leaving producers focused on height because they “always spray it when it’s about three or four inches tall,” caught off guard by the actual number of leaves.

The examples Freitag showed didn’t leave much hope for ear development, in her opinion, but there are enough normal-looking plants that she’s hopeful pollination shouldn’t be an issue for the rest.

“I’m losing hope on the tassel,” she said, flipping the plant to display a gnarled root ball. “It’s fused right tight together. There’s a little bit open at the top, but that tassel is going to really struggle to get out.”

The post Staging slip leads to corn damage after Dicamba spray appeared first on Farmtario.

The Sectional Recirculation Valve (SRV) was developed by the Drift Reduction Technology (DRT) Corp. in Wisconsin. The company focuses exclusively on improving the safety and accuracy of applying crop protection products.

Although Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) boom recirculation systems have been around for a while, the SRV2 maintains aggressive recirculation when it’s needed most, during spray application.

A main benefit of the SRV2 is that the operator does not leave a 30- to 50-gallon patch of chemical mix on the ground. All clean-out liquid is sprayed out on the field for which it was designated.

According to DRT, in the time it takes an operator to get out and physically open all flush valves or remove end caps on a conventional system, the entire machine using SRV2 technology can be thoroughly flushed and ready for the next field.

Rinsate can immediately and responsibly be sprayed on the field. Cleanout takes only a few minutes, even with dicamba or other highly volatile products. The operator is never exposed to hazardous materials, says DRT owner Kurt Kamin.

The heart of the system is the SRV2 valve installed in the line feeding each boom section. At the two ends of each section, the end caps or flush valves are eliminated and replaced with 180 degree end sweeps that shoot the fluid back to the central SRV2 valve. Sweeps eliminate areas where chemical may want to hide during cleaning.

Spray fluid enters through the SRV2 valve on the way into the boom section. DRT’s 180-degree sweeps turn the liquid around and send it back to the valve through polyethylene hose. The design uses polyethylene because it won’t retain any residual chemical.

Kamin says, “The fluid comes back to our valve, where the inductor actually does the work. The inductor creates the suction to bring the fluid back around while you’re spraying. We have about a two-pound pressure drop across the valve while it’s spraying. That’s the amount of energy the system gives up to make this all happen.”

To verify that his system performs as claimed, Kamin hauled a sample boom section outfitted with SRV2 valves, from Wisconsin up to nozzle guru Tom Wolf of Agrimetrix in Saskatoon. Wolf observed the demonstration and later reviewed the trial results.

Kamin says, “We’ve proven with testing we’ve videotaped that three minutes into running clean water through that section, we’ve diluted the dye down to 20,000:1 parts per million. That’s the ratio they’re calling for on dicamba and 2,4-D. Once you’re running clean water through the valve, you just run it out through the nozzles in the field. The valves can have the sprayer clean and ready for the next chemical in the time it normally takes to get out of the sprayer and down to the ground.

“EPA (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency) says you can have 30 parts per million per square foot. If you dump raw chemical on the ground, you’ve just exacerbated that number by 10 million.”

Kamin says the system re-circulates while it’s spraying. Once the liquid enters the boom through the SRV2, nothing goes back into the tank. It also has a high-flow bypass built into the SRV2 valve. Fluid always goes through the inductor. In situations where high volume is needed, such as 32 per cent at 30 gallons per acre on corn, the valve can accommodate that.

“The real breakthrough will be our direct injection into each individual section. We’re developing a system to change the chemical rate right down to the section level. As the fluid goes racing around a boom section, we meter in appropriate chemicals on the go. You won’t create that huge V-pattern,” says Kamin.

“The valve has merit to stand on its own, simply as a quick and thorough clean-out device.”

Installation is a matter of loosening a banjo clamp, spreading the hose lines apart two inches, slipping the valve into place and then tightening two banjo clamps.

The basic SRV2 valve is available now. The model with a direct chemical injection port is expected to be on the market in July, although COVID-19 may delay those plans.

The system can be retrofitted to any new or used field sprayer. It’s installed with one kit per boom section.

The price is US$595 per section, which includes all hose and hardware. For further information visit: drt.ag.

How the SRV2 works

This SRV2 valve allows for constant recirculation in a closed loop at the section level. While spraying, the fluid recirculates around the section keeping constant agitation.

Cleanout of the section is accomplished by flushing the section with clean water and spraying the product out on the field where it belongs. This eliminates flush valves and/or end cap maintenance.

If chemical injection is used the system can be cleaned out and switched to a new chemical in about four minutes.

Water comes in from the tank at the top of the valve. The next hole down on the left side is for chemical injection. The larger hole on the left side is the return from the end of the section lines. This is plumbed with polyethylene lined hose. The hole on the right side is for the high flow bypass valve. That provides for high gallonage applications, such as nitrogen fertilizer. As the fluid bypasses the inductor, it is returned below the inductor. This high flow bypass is done with a spring-loaded pressure relief valve, not shown.

This article was originally published at The Western Producer.

The post Total boom section cleanout possible in five minutes appeared first on Farmtario.

The “next-generation” system automatically adjusts the booms using a combination of chassis monitoring and sensors to function as a “look ahead” and detect changes in terrain, the company said in a release.

The radar sensors can be configured to detect the location of the ground or crop canopy, maintain a level spray platform and maximize boom life, Case IH said.

The company described its AutoBoom XRT automatic boom height control as a way to help operators “cover more acres effectively per pass and provide consistent, accurate application across every inch of ground.”

The AutoBoom option is “ideal” for producers with longer spray booms, Case IH said, because “the longer the boom, the more challenging it is for operators to maintain level and consistent application.”

AutoBoom XRT comes with three radar sensors “strategically placed” along the boom, but offers an option to add more for a total of up to seven.

“High-efficiency application starts with superior accuracy, and that means a boom needs to stay a consistent, level height above the ground,” Mark Burns, Case IH’s application equipment marketing manager, said in the release.

“AutoBoom XRT outshines prior height control options because it allows producers to consistently cover a wide range of terrain, from smooth topographies to waterways and terraces.”

The post Case IH automates spray boom height on Patriots, Tridents appeared first on Farmtario.

Mike Cowbrough, weed specialist with the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, and Jason Deveau, application technology with OMAFRA, suggest farmers review products before mixing as some tank mixes are incompatible and can create biological and physical problems.

Cowbrough and Deveau spoke to farmers at the Farmsmart Expo held July 11, at the Elora Research Station.

Why it matters: Mixing incompatible products can create expensive consequences, including crop injury, poor product performance or plugged equipment.

Biological incompatibilities

Are the crops able to handle the chemistry of all products mixed together?

“What’s the risk of a plant sprayed with a mix of four, five or six things together? Especially the way plants tolerate herbicides through metabolism and now it has to metabolize five things instead of one. This can increase the crop injury,” says Cowbrough.

Antagonism can pose a risk — one product tying up another, stopping it from doing its job.

“Increase crop injury and decreasing control, that’s not what you want to have happen,” says Cowbrough.

As well, if the efficacy drops, the farmer won’t be saving much time.

“You may never know that your product wasn’t as good as you thought it was, or you get no control at all; in an effort to save time and trips you find yourself spraying again to correct the problem,” says Deveau.

Physical incompatibilities can be quickly found when a sprayer plugs due to two liquids forming a solid.

As well, undissolved or unsuspended material can slowly plug sprayers, which can also happen when the farmer isn’t applying the correct rate.

“When looking at a product like Marksman, it takes a fair amount of agitation to get it back into full solution, and imagine mixing five products like that together. You need quite a bit of agitation,” Cowbrough said.

For other products, such as Valtera, the label specifically states the need to use product within six hours. Otherwise it adheres to plastic and rubber lines.

“Some residues are sneaky. Certainproducts form a film inside the tank. You won’t see (it), it gets coated and sticks around,” says Deveau. “The right products can break it loose, it comes off in sheets, it plugs everything or it leads to carry over — products that shouldn’t be in certain fields at certain times suddenly are.”

Growers are beginning to use dry products more often. These tend to be more particular to the water volumes in which they are dissolved.

When looking at the common product Sencor 75DF, usually paired with Eragon and glyphosate, the product dissolves better in some water volumes, compared to others.

“We have pretty much full dilution of the product at 20 gallons per acre, but as we move to lower volumes, 10 or five gallons per acre we have a lot more sediment left over,” says Cowbrough.

As well, water properties can be a concern.

Sencor 75DF showed it dissolves better in 15 C water compared to 5 C.

“If it’s not dissolved in solution, it’s not hitting the target and imagine how plugged the filters would get,” says Cowbrough.

Check product compatibility

There are many sources for information about product compatibility and water considerations. Start by reading the label, even though it is sometimes complicated.

Cowbrough suggests using the Pest Management Regulatory Agency label search database.

“If there’s nothing sufficient in the label, that’s when we want to talk to the manufacturer. They have the most expertise for those products,” says Cowbrough.

Deveau suggests completing jar tests on a yearly basis to ensure the mix is continuously efficient, even if it’s a common tank mix.

They help to showcase, on a smaller ratio, the success of tank mixes before using them in your sprayer.

“Formulations have changed and no one calls to tell you that — the jar test is for you to get a little surprise before you get a big surprise,” says Deveau.

It’s best to keep jar tests all season long.

Having to cancel a spray job due to weather conditions, forcing product to sit for several days, may raise questions about efficacy later.

“If you have the jar test, leave it around and see what happens. If it sits for three, four or five days — see how well it can get back into solution,” says Cowbrough.

Deveau suggests pre-fabricated kits, such as the one from Precision Labs.

The kit includes a pipette with marks for different rates of products and instructions on how to perform the procedure.

The post Know your tank mixes to avoid incompatibilities with sprayers, products appeared first on Farmtario.

Tom Schuurmans said the hitch shaves at least five minutes off each load and unload of his sprayer.

He said his family’s dairy farm near Elmira, Ont., needs to make field operations as slick as possible because of the daily work demands in the barn.

“It’s (fifth pin) mounted right under the front axle, and then it drops down about eight inches to clear the weight block, and the fifth wheel plate is mounted on 14-inch I-beam and they are mounted or bolted down directly to the step deck I-beams,” Schuurmans said.

“You can feel it snap into place. You have to drop the air in the trailer and the sprayer so that the airbags are all the way down. To unload it, you pull the fifth wheel plate locking handle and then just back right out.”

He said the idea came from another farmer, Mark McClean, but his design is a little different.

“He has a truck and tender; I just made it on a step deck design,” Schuurmans said.

“We got a local welding engineer, OJB Industries, to build the ramps for the sprayer trailer, and then the fifth wheel plate was just me. It was pretty simple.”

The ramps for the sprayer wheels are to the side and below the trailer deck, so there is little chance the sprayer can shift during transport.

“The way the ramps are designed, there is one inch on either side of the tire. That trailer won’t shift side to side at all. You’d have to flop that trailer over to get that sprayer off,” Schuurmans said.

“It’s designed to have as little play as possible.”

He said for longer hauls he would throw chains on the back to avoid offending people who can’t see the load is secure.

“I’m not 100 per cent sure it’s (department of transportation) approved, but the way I look at it is, well what’s holding a 80,000 pound transport trailer full of grain? It’s the exact same thing and I’m only 10 tonnes, so 20,000 lb.,” Schuurmans said.

The post Farmer develops new, fast connection for his sprayer appeared first on Farmtario.

With sprayers for example, the longer fill time of a bigger sprayer may cut into potential return on investment. Smaller is sometimes smarter.

Size is a major consideration in any new sprayer decision.

While a larger sprayer is more productive, a grower should try to achieve a balance between investment and volume of work, according to Doug Applegate, founder of Praxidyn chemical-mixing systems in Oakland, Iowa.

Applegate wanted to look at sprayer efficiency. The first place to go with those kinds of questions is obviously the sprayer productivity calculator developed and published on-line by Canadian agricultural spray experts Tom Wolf and Jason Deveau at www.sprayers101.com.

Applegate said he’s often used this calculator to compare sprayers and evaluate options as objectively as possible. In his recent evaluation, the smaller sprayers had slightly higher turn speed because they’re lighter and more agile. The factors he plugged into the calculator were a half-mile field length, two headlands, 15 gallons per acre and 14 miles per hour spraying speed.

“I priced two brands of sprayers from our local dealers and averaged the prices together for the comparisons,” says Applegate.

“They were all equipped with the latest pulsating nozzle technology and auto-guidance systems. The smaller sprayers didn’t have quite as many features because some of the options such as a stainless steel tanks were only available on the larger units.”

Prices were collected for 600-gallon and 800-gallon units with 90-foot booms. The 1,000-gallon sprayers were priced with 100-foot booms. The 1,200-gallon sprayers were priced with 120-foot booms. Applegate came to several conclusions derived from his study:

• Slower loading times increase the cost per acre per hour of productivity dramatically. The increased cost ranges from 26 per cent to 42 per cent.
• Spending 10 per cent more for a larger sprayer will increase productivity by about only eight per cent.
• Spending seven per cent more for an automated mixing system can increase productivity by 20 to 30 per cent compared to manually mixing in the field.
• Note the cost per acre per hour of productivity of the 600-gallon sprayer is only $2,388 because of the five-minute loading time. Manufacturers seem to give a better price advantage to the 600-gallon sprayers. Smaller sprayers are more cost effective for their capacity.

“The lowest cost method for improving productivity is to reduce loading time. The cost difference of 100 acres per hour of productivity is shocking when comparing a 1,200-gallon sprayer loading in 15 minutes to an 800-gallon sprayer loading in five minutes. The 1,200-gallon sprayer costs US$93,000 more.

“AGCO aggregated data from sprayers shows that 26 per cent of engine hours are spent spraying. A 20 per cent improvement, or saving 10 minutes of loading time, would reduce sprayer operating costs by 80 cents per acre. That was given to me by an executive in the department that collects data. I believe it was published but I have never come across it.

“I’ve worked these numbers several ways. There’s no doubt saving 10 minutes of loading time actually does boost productivity by 20 per cent across many sizes of sprayers and situations. We’re now considering a more in-depth calculator to look at operating costs.”

The post Potential productivity calculation depends on sprayer fill time appeared first on Farmtario.

RiteTrace is the latest application for the potato industry from Greentronics, which has also developed a boom height control system for potato harvesters that can be used on sprayers, as well as a yield mapping system and other tools.

Why it matters: Record-keeping is critical for on-farm food safety programs like CanadaGAP, so traceability technology can help growers quickly respond to potential problems in their crop.

RiteTrace automatically collects yield data as a crop is being harvested and maps where each load comes out of the field. Each truck load is also mapped as it goes into storage allowing growers to precisely locate each load and follow it through its marketing cycle.

“Food safety and knowing where your product has come from gives you traceability and accountability,” said Kate Vander Zaag, who grows potatoes in the Alliston area on a family farm with her husband, son and son-in-law and was one of the first to try the system. “If we have trouble in a bin, we can see where it comes from; if we have excellent quality, we can tell what field or what part of a field that came from.”

In preparation for their CanadaGAP audit – the program requires growers to be able to trace their product back to the field and provide a harvest date – the system has virtually eliminated complicated manual record-keeping. Instead, reports the Vanderzaags need are generated automatically as harvest is progressing.

Kate and her husband Peter first started working with Greentronics founder Bill Menkveld – whom they know from their university days – years ago when they were looking for a yield monitor to put on their potato harvester. This ultimately resulted in Greentronics’ RiteYield system, which generates field-specific yield maps and offers potato growers running yield totals for bins, fields, varieties, and test plots.

The original yield monitoring system designed by Menkveld and his brother Bert, an electrical engineer, about two decades ago was ahead of its time. Software was clumsy, and computers were slow without the large storage capacity needed to handle the vast amounts of data being generated. It wasn’t until 10 years ago that they picked up the technology again and ended up bringing it to market.

About 15 years ago, Menkveld received a request for a height control system for a potato harvester boom that would maintain boom height and minimize tuber bruising. This eventually moved beyond just the potato industry and evolved into their popular RiteHeight system to manage boom height in sprayers.

“We felt confident we could introduce it on sprayers and it was a success right away with farmers in general; it was no longer tied to the potato industry,” said Menkveld. “Our goal was to come up with a system that a grower could install himself; that was important to us that all he would need is what we provide in our box. By keeping it very simple and universal, it allows growers to use it themselves and understand how it works.”

And although RiteTrace is currently just for potato growers, Bill has received inquiries from grain growers in Canada, the U.S. and Australia about how the system could work in their industry.

Seed funding from Bioenterprise has helped Greentronics with some development work on RiteTrace, as well as marketing, attending trade shows and conducting market research with growers. The ag tech accelerator has also been helping the company with a patent application for the traceability system.

“Greentronics is exporting internationally and they have a lot of good products,” said Doug Knox, vice president, technology with Bioenterprise. “They are the on-the-ground precision ag guys and interest is high especially if they can move into that cloud environment.”

The post Made-in-Ontario technology simplifies crop traceability appeared first on Farmtario.