New Bayer app can identify diseases

Mar 23, 2018

The app uses technology similar to facial recognition

By Diego Flammini
News Reporter
Farms.com

Bayer is developing a new app to help farmers identify weeds within their fields.

The Digital Farming Scouting app, which Bayer hopes to launch in Canada this spring, will build on the capabilities of its WEEDSCOUT app. WEEDSCOUT incorporates technology similar to facial recognition to identify weeds.

This technology is different than traditional weed identification apps, said Warren Bills, a digital farming business developer with Bayer.

With traditional apps, “you used to have to take a photo and compare it with other pictures. You use a drop-down menu to classify certain things about the weed and end up with a result,” Bills told Farms.com yesterday.

Warren Bills

“When a farmer takes a photo of a weed with WEEDSCOUT, the photo is automatically compared to thousands of other pictures in a trained database. (The app) properly identifies the weed.”

The Digital Farming Scouting app will use similar technology to help growers identify diseases and stages of leaf damage.

“Rather than a farmer saying a leaf is 20 per cent damaged and someone else saying the leaf is 60 per cent damaged, the app would identify the proper level of damage and that would correlate into a recommendation to spray or not to spray” Bills said.

In addition, the Digital Farming Scouting app features anonymous alerts and intensity maps to help industry professionals understand if a disease or weed is spreading.

The more people that use the app and upload photos of weeds and diseases, the more accurate the app becomes in identifying those issues, Bills added.

Bayer is also investigating spray technology to help growers use chemistry more efficiently.

Cameras on sprayers would incorporate the same technology used in the Digital Farming Scouting app to perform scout and spray applications.

“The sprayer could identify the weed, insect or disease, select the proper product and spray the correct rate,” Bills said, adding the technology would help growers reduce the amount of product they apply.

Bayer’s aims to have the camera sprayer technology as a practical prototype scheduled for 2019.

For more ag-related apps, check out the Farms.com apps page.

Video: Did Bears Win Thanksgiving, Will Bulls Get Christmas?

Did the bears win Thanksgiving (although this week had green on the screen), and will the bulls get Christmas? Bears won thanksgiving thanks to a USDA Nov crop report dud that stalled the bullish grain momentum for a brief period. But a bullish lower yield surprise in the Dec crop report could reignite the rally.
2026 U.S. winter wheat planting is nearly complete at 97% while crop conditions improved by 3 points to 48% good-to-excellent. US corn & soybean harvest is complete.
High corn demand, which is off the chart, and more Chinese soybean demand could support a Christmas rally.
Nasdaq had it’s worst November since 2011.
A U.S. Fed rate cut in December will help fund flow and sentiment.
Bitcoin held a long-term support at 80,000 and that's positive for fund flow and sentiment. It should help stock prices and Ag as we go into December.
Fertilizer prices continue to climb as we look ahead to 2026. Farmers may rely more on the nutrients that they already have in their soils.
South American Weather remains critical as the soybean reproductive stage starts from late Nov to late Feb depending on planting date.
Will a Russia-Ukraine peace deal happen by year-end?
CFTC data as of showed more managed money fund sell-off as of October 14th.