The Stratus AirSprayer is essentially a powered paraglider — one that can carry heavier loads and stay aloft much longer than conventional drones. Photo: Supplied

Paraglider powers a new kind of sprayer

The Stratus AirSprayer is different than the quadcopters and fixed-wing UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles) typically associated with ag drones. Essentially, it’s a powered paraglider — one that can carry heavier loads and stay aloft much longer than conventional drones.

crop sprayer

Crop spraying in Europe sees high scrutiny

A British sprayer operator highlighted differences in sprayer awareness between Canada and the U.K.

Conditions for operating a sprayer in the United Kingdom, as in much of the European Union, are different from those in Canada or the U.S. “In the U.K., we have […] Read more




Agco has introduced a two-model sprayer line under its Massey Ferguson brand with 740 and 860 gallon (2,800 and 3,255 litre) tank capacities.

New Agco sprayers target total cost of ownership

“Entry level” models introduced under the MF brand are available with 90 and 100-foot booms

[UPDATED: Oct. 30, 2023] When Agco moved to differentiate its two main machinery brands in North America, Massey Ferguson and Fendt, it gave Massey the tag line “straightforward and dependable.” […] Read more

The three 10-foot covers prevent ambient sunlight from entering the spraying chamber. The Ecorobotix uses its own light source so the algorithms always know what their light waves signify.

Precision sprayer cuts chemical use

System uses individualized sensors and nozzles for each row crop and shroud to help prevent spray drift

Glacier FarmMedia – Makers of the Ecorobotix ARA claim their sprayer can apply chemical to a crop using one nozzle per row. Each is triggered to turn on and off […] Read more

This is an intimidating view of what it looks like if you want to re-plumb the sprayer to install a recirculating boom. Tom Wolf says it may look scary, but the recirculating boom actually simplifies the sprayer’s plumbing.

Circular thinking, recirculating spray booms

Farmers told recirculating can reduce cost, time and environmental impact and manage water at priming and cleaning

Glacier FarmMedia – Recirculating booms have been around for half a decade, although the concept first came to Canada from Pommier about 20 years ago. Some farmers remain unconvinced that […] Read more


An example image analysis flow for conventional weed detection algorithms to extract ginger plants from the background and to then identify purple nutsedge. The original image is first transformed into the hue, saturation, and value colour space, before image features such as mean colour channel statistics are calculated, thresholds applied through a deterministic algorithm, resulting in the identification of ginger plant.

What’s next for precision spray application?

It’s AI technologies that incorporate a deeper learning, says Australian expert

Guy Coleman, precision weed control researcher at the University of Sydney, says incorporating deep-learning capabilities into sprayer artificial intelligence (AI) systems will allow for ever more efficient weed control while […] Read more