New Sprayers Will Help Multitask

Our industry was built on advancements in technology. With growers’ challenges to maintain a viable livelihood in agriculture and remain competitive, our industry will continue to depend on the latest developments. Whether it be new answers to old problems or the development of systems to address new demands placed on growers, equipment manufacturers are working to create efficient and affordable solutions. Check out what’s happening in sprayer technology.

Demand For Traceability

Traceability systems have become essential tools with regard to all forms of food safety in the global marketplace. As food production sees the rise in demand for fully traceable products, including information on how they are grown, what chemicals were used, how much, and how often, equipment manufacturers are focusing on technology to address this trend. Existing systems have proven to be weak at best, and better solutions are needed to assure consumers of the safety of their food.

Thorough on-farm record keeping is where traceability and quality control begin. To assist growers in collecting the data, and through a partnership with AGCO Corp., researchers at the Cranfield University in the United Kingdom (UK) are working on technology to provide automatic recording systems, which would reduce the costs of collecting and managing data. “Modern sprayers have the capability of controlling precisely the applications of chemical and produce application maps from the onboard controller,” says Mark Sharitz, director of marketing for AGCO Ag-Chem. “However, there is still a gap in product identification and induction that needs to be done manually, creating a gap in generating automatic records for sprayer inputs.”

The Cranfield University researchers developed a prototype automatic chemical recording system and evaluated the market value and demand for such systems. The system they developed integrates the identification of chemicals using radio frequency identification technology, weighing chemicals within a standard induction hopper. The system will enable automatic identification and measure the chemical according to the specific task file, while creating job records.

Growers in the UK judged the automatic chemical recording system attached to AGCO’s Spra-Coupe sprayer and evaluated the time of filling the hoppers, ease of retrieving the data, accuracy of data shared, investment costs, and benefits of avoiding the use of unregistered chemicals. Indications based on evaluation forms filled out by the growers reveal that 49% of respondents perceive a need for the system, with an emphasis on the prevention of pesticide misapplication. The other two main benefits were increased operator safety and data accuracy.

As research continues, the next steps will include expanding the questionnaire to both growers who do their own spraying and those who contract spraying services. Work also continues on engineering the chemical recording hopper that will operate with ISOBUS equipment. The goal is to incorporate existing hardware and software into the new technology.

“Both the RoGator and Spra-Coupe lines of sprayers are built to be more rugged than others and have a history of bringing useful innovations to the market,” says Sharitz.

High-Clearance Bundle

A new high-clearance bundle is available for John Deere 4730 and 4830 sprayers, which will allow growers and commercial applicators to use their sprayers to apply fungicides or other products on corn in the tassel stage, and increase their application opportunities in other tall crops.

“The bundle increases the sprayer height an additional 16 inches and provides increased crop shielding that makes our sprayers even more versatile and productive, especially for use later in the season,” says Adam Hart, John Deere product manager. “Now, with up to 75 inches of under-frame clearance, customers can drive their 4730 or 4830 sprayer through tasseled corn with minimum crop damage.”

The high-clearance bundle consists of four assemblies — one per wheel — that attach between the chrome spindle and the casting that houses the wheel motor. Shields are also included to help keep the radiator and grill clear of tassels or pollen. In addition, the bundle includes parts that lower the eductor to make loading chemicals more convenient.

A telescoping latch mechanism allows the eductor to be lowered to a more accommodating height for loading, as well as a convenient storage position that’s out of the way when not in use. The clean water rinse tank also has an extension to make access to clean water more available to operators when needed.

“After the high-clearance bundle is initially installed, the lift castings can be removed or reinstalled in approximately four hours,” Hart says. “This lets customers convert a standard machine to a high-clearance machine, or a high-clearance machine back to the standard height of 60 inches.”