Smart sprayers powered by artificial intelligence could help Midwest corn and soybean growers cut foliar herbicide use — and trim input bills — without sacrificing weed control, according to new research published in Weed Science, a journal of the Weed Science Society of America.
The study evaluated field trials run in 2022 and 2023 near Manhattan, Kansas, and in 2023 near Seymour, Illinois. Researchers compared targeted “spot spray” applications using AI-enabled technology with traditional broadcast spraying.
“This research demonstrated that significant herbicide use reductions are possible with smart sprayers compared with broadcast applications,” said Anita Dille, a Kansas State University agronomy professor and the study’s corresponding author. She added that the technology works best when it’s paired with a strong integrated weed management plan –+- including crop rotation, residual herbicides, multiple effective sites of action on key weeds, and two-pass programs.
For the work, the team used a ONE SMART SPRAY system built for small-plot research but designed with the same external hardware found on commercial units. The sprayer was mounted on a tractor with two booms: a front boom set up for spot-spray nozzles and a rear boom used for broadcast applications. Cameras across the booms used imaging technology to tell the difference between crop rows and weeds, then triggered one or more nozzles depending on the green vegetation detected.
“The ONE SMART SPRAY sprayer demonstrated the potential to reduce herbicide input costs without compromising weed control,” Dille said, noting that targeted spraying generally reduced herbicide costs compared with broadcast applications.
The AI system handled in-season weed detection between and within rows. For burndown and pre-emergence applications, the system didn’t rely on AI, instead using infrared and near-infrared sensors designed to identify green vegetation.
Even with the promise of smart sprayers, Dille emphasized that growers shouldn’t view the technology as a standalone solution.
“Broadcast applications of residual herbicides and multiple passes of targeted foliar herbicides are still important when using this technology,” she said. Dille also pointed to the potential value of emerging two-boom, two-tank sprayers that could apply residuals and targeted foliar products in the same pass as those systems become commercially available.
And for growers who don’t have access to AI-equipped sprayers yet, Dille said some of the same concepts still apply — including a two-pass approach: a soil-applied residual at planting followed by a targeted postemergence foliar application.
