If there’s one machine where technical accuracy is of paramount importance, it’s on the sprayer. CPM explores some of the newer technologies and features available on machines to optimise performance and chemical usage.
“There’s no wastage of the additional chemical and no cross contamination of the main tank mix.” – SIMON BROWN
By Melanie Jenkins
The subjects of resistance management and reducing chemical usage are never far away, and with increasing pressure to make these a focal part of spraying operations, manufacturers are continuing to invest in developing technologies which improve accuracy to help growers optimise their spray applications.
AMAZONE
With growers looking to increase output capacity, the trend in the sprayer market is for increased tank size – but not necessarily boom width as field size dictates what’s practical in that respect, says Amazone’s Simon Brown. “However, more liquid on board to reduce fill-ups and quicker turnround times is key to increasing output.”
The single axled high-capacity UX 7601 with a tank size of 8000 litres and the UX 8601 with 9030 litres, are becoming increasingly popular, he notes.
“The unique feature in the 7601 and 8601 design is the weight transfer from the tank to the rear of the tractor ensuring better traction, less fuel usage, higher stability and reduced ground pressure as well as ensuring that road legality on one axle is maintained.”
New from Amazone for 2025 is an update from AmaSwitch to AmaSwitch plus. “The beauty of AmaSwitch was the solenoid on each individual nozzle body, which can be specified as either a triple or quad body with a manual changeover to each nozzle,” explains Simon.
“The quad body can also be used on a 25cm nozzle spacing as well. The solenoid isolates each 50cm section individually meaning less overlap (up to 85% less) and reduced wastage, no chemical resistance build up and no yield penalties. With AmaSwitch plus, the complete hardware has been made more durable to withstand the rigours of the harsh spraying environment.”
More common on the UX 01 is AmaSelect, the flexible individual nozzle control system, he says. “The quad nozzle body is controlled by an electric motor which can send spray liquid to any of the four nozzles individually, or a combination of three pairs of nozzles, or one combination of three nozzles, giving a total of eight nozzle combinations on the move.
“This has huge agronomical benefits where the nozzle output – which may be from more than one nozzle – is matched to the application rate and droplet size. The range of adjustment possible is much greater compared with PWM systems. AmaSelect can be used at both 50cm and 25cm nozzle spacings.”
DirectInject is the most novel addition to the self-propelled Pantera and the UX 01 where an additional chemical can be fed into the spray line on the move so buffer zones can be treated differently, says Simon. “The concentration of the chemical can be also be increased on the move, for use in applications such as growth regulator or fungicides in higher yielding areas, or in pockets of fields with bad grassweed issues. There’s no wastage of the additional chemical and no cross contamination of the main tank mix.”
Also new this year on the UF 02 mounted sprayers, Amazone offers the ContourControl boom guidance system on 21m and 24m booms. “This is ideal for growers running a mounted sprayer and farming on undulating terrain where the boom sometimes has to go below horizontal as well as above.
“The system was introduced on 27m, 28m and 30m booms in 2023 and has now been extended due to demand on the narrower boom widths,” he adds. “And it’s that instantaneous response to changes in target height that owners of trailed and self-propelled sprayers wax lyrically about, which is now proving its worth on the mounted models. The system also self-levels when one boom is folded in to go around a pole which makes for better driver comfort.”
Finally, the UF 02 sprayer has new contactless flow meters that give increased metering accuracy for better rate control and improved reliability. “We also have the AmaTron Share App now to connect to the AmaTron 4 for sharing application maps and job data between Farm Management Information Systems and the sprayer,” concludes Simon.
HORSCH
Horsch has released further precision crop care technological developments to its Leeb sprayers in the form of AutoSelect Pro and Spot Spraying, giving users the opportunity to update existing machines.
AutoSelect Pro is the latest update to the well-proven automatic nozzle control system and adds curve compensation to the current set of features. This system automatically switches the nozzles with the operational speed to help ensure a consistent application rate. It also automatically adapts the working height of the boom, removing workload from the operator and improving performance.
The AutoSelect Pro curve compensation system adjusts application rate when cornering, increasing the quantity on the outside of the curve and reducing on the inside. Horsch sprayers which already have AutoSelect can be upgraded to AutoSelect Pro.
With the intensive focus on spot spraying to help make plant protection even more efficient, Horsch is developing its own technologies based on its pulse nozzle system, PrecisionSpray. Because this system is in widespread use, it offers a practical upgrade path as spraying technologies develop in the future.
Spot spraying means that an individual plant is assessed and treated instead of the whole field, allowing sprays to be used in a more efficient and effective way. Horsch is currently researching different methods such as green-on-brown and green-on-green detection, and carrying out field tests with different camera manufacturers.
The firm says its objective is to adapt the new technology to suit different environmental conditions and meet the requirements of farmers around the world.
Green-on-brown plays a major role in dry regions such as Australia, to remove individual weeds from the stubbles, while green-on-green is far more difficult to implement due to the small differentiation between weeds and emergent crops and is proving a challenge for experts across the agricultural industry, it adds. But green-on-green is most important in northern Europe, for example, for the application of herbicides or fungicides.
KUHN
The latest updates to Kuhn’s sprayer range include future technology that’s designed to help users apply crop protection products with greater precision, protect the environment and reduce input costs.
The firm’s I-Spray spot spraying system has been developed in partnership with Carbon Bee to offer different applications depending on the crop. A key benefit of the targeted system is reducing product use and cost compared with current methods, by up to 95% in some crops, according to Kuhn’s Edd Fanshawe.
“Furthermore, the environment is better protected as applications are targeted to the plants that require it, whereas blanket applications are avoided. This also helps to reduce the chances of herbicide resistance.”
The system works from live data fed via hyperspectral sensors positioned along the boom.
These are lightweight and use a wide-angle view, so the number of sensors required is reduced, he adds. The control module uses the data to activate individual nozzles to target the specific plants or areas.
Three application modes are possible; green-on-brown spot application to target weeds on stubbles; green-on-green spot application for weed detection in growing crops and, green-on-green using variable rate application.
“This allows a low volume spray across the width with targeted individual dosing when weeds are detected,” explains Edd. “This is particularly useful to treat whole fields that could require a smaller dose but increased rates to specific plants. Variable rate application of fungicides, growth regulators and nitrogen will be possible using crop biomass measurements.”
This article was taken from the latest issue of CPM. Read the article in full here.
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