Innovating Crop Protection

Jun 30, 2016

By Kayla Hedrick

Expert offers sneak peek at coming technology aimed at improving spraying efficiency

Farmers have been looking for ways to protect their crops since seeds were first put into the ground, and crop-protection methods, such as spray systems, have grown and evolved alongside other ag technologies.

Joe Luck, Ph.D., assistant professor of biological systems engineering at the University of Nebraska, focuses on variable-rate application technologies, sensors and control systems for site-specific crop management. In this Q&A, he explains how new spraying technology helps farmers maximize effectiveness while minimizing inputs.

Q: How have you seen spray technology change?

A: We’ve had spray-rate-control systems for the past 25-30 years to adjust boom flow based on ground speed. Of course auto-steer has helped out. Another technology that has been widely adopted is automatic section control, where we’re turning sections of booms on and off as we move in and out of sprayed and unsprayed areas. That has real potential for savings by lowering input costs.

As for newer technology, direct-injection systems, where the water and liquid chemical are kept separate, and chemical is injected within the boom to create different concentrations, has seen slow adoption.

More recently, we’ve had the pulse-width-modulation spray valves right at the nozzle body, which has helped out in providing a solution for turn compensation and improved rate control.

Q: What do these technologies provide farmers?

A: With section control, the biggest improvement is reduced chemical application because we’re mapping where we’ve been in the field, which reduces chemical use while protecting the environment at the same time.

Pulse-width nozzle modulation has the potential to improve uniformity across the field because it can compensate for speed variations, even across the spray boom during turns.

Another system I would mention is the automatic boom height control. Systems might have an ultrasonic or laser sensor to sense the crop canopy and keep the boom at the optimum height above the crop. That’s important because we want to keep the boom as low to the canopy as we possibly can to minimize spray drift.

Q: How can technology help farmers balance productivity and stewardship?

A: In some of the research I’ve done, we saw an average across-farm pesticide reduction of around 10 percent in some instances by using automatic section control. Depending on the field, it could be up to 25 percent. Payback on those types of systems has a lot to do with the size and shape of the field. Section control is a proven technology for reducing overall chemical applied.

Q: In your estimation, what are their current technology focus areas?

A: Right now, there’s a huge focus on spray drift. The pulse-width-modulation systems do suggest some potential for the control of droplet size. We may see technologies in the future with even more potential to combat spray drift beyond adjuvants.

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