Farmers Business Network (FBN) announced it is entering a collaboration agreement with Greeneye Technology, a company developing artificial intelligence-driven spraying technology. This technology can potentially offer farmers cost savings of more than 60% during spraying.
This collaboration was started to help farmers reduce weed control costs and drive profitability by combining Greeneye’s retrofit precision spraying systems and FBN’s Precision Spraying Packs, as well as FBN’s finance offerings, crop protection, and nutrition plans, which are being developed for use specifically with the Greeneye system.
The retrofit system is designed to integrate with many models of commercial sprayers, regardless of manufacturer, eliminating the need for farmers to invest in a new machine. Greeneye is partnering with independent dealers throughout the Midwest to equip the retrofit kit.
The system will entirely replace your sprayer’s existing boom with the new aluminum Greeneye boom, which comes with the sensors pre-installed. The upgrade also features a dual line/tank configuration to enable simultaneous precision and broadcast spraying. In the cab, Greeneye will also install a small display to allow the farmer to track what’s going on with the new sensors.
As part of the agreement, FBN will also invest in Greeneye Technology to fuel its expansion program in the U.S. market and beyond.
“I think we’re taking a first step in a much bigger vision,” says Nadav Bocher, co-founder and CEO of Greeneye. “We see how this technology can expand value beyond optimizing herbicides application, whether it’s to auto inputs, or to provide insights through the data we collect from the sensor we have on those machines.”
Tried and tested
Greeneye participated in FBN’s Innovators Research League in 2022, a field-trial program. The Greeneye precision spraying system was able to reduce non-residual herbicide use by an average of 86%, while maintaining the same weed control and yield as typical broadcast spraying.
A further field trial undertaken by the University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s Agricultural Research Division in summer 2022 found the Greeneye system reduced herbicide use in post-emergence applications by 87% while maintaining similar levels of efficacy to broadcast spraying. This represented a potential cost saving to farmers of more than 60%.
“There’s real proof this works,” says Amol Desphande, co-founder and CEO of FBN. “It reduces the amount of application you have to do, and that’s a real return on investment (ROI) for farmers. At the most fundamental level, we don’t view ourselves as selling camera inputs. We sell ROI, and we believe it produces ROI for farmers based on the data that we saw.”
Pricing and availability
The Greeneye precision spraying system launched in 2022, and demand has been so high all units for 2023 have already been sold out. Pricing information is not yet available, but discounts will be offered to FBN members. By purchasing the system, farmers will also be enrolling in two seasons of FBN’s Precision Spraying Pack crop protection and nutrition program, as well as committing to running on-farm trials to showcase product efficacy and sharing performance data.
“I think what we see quite consistently through the hundreds of farmers we interact with is that typically ROI will be under two seasons,” says Bocher.
FBN’s collaborative program with Greeneye will launch in the U.S. for the 2024 growing season. For more information, visit FBN.com.
