Trimble Adds Spray Application To Crop Protection Portfolio

Trimble Adds Spray Application To Crop Protection Portfolio SPRAYING New Sprayers Trimble Agriculture a precision technology company recently acquired Bilberry a selective spraying system company with real-time green-on-green application technology that identifies and treats individual weed species within a crop Guillermo Perez-Iturbe Trimble’s senior marketing director says the acquisition will help complete their application solutions which are currently driven by their WeedSeeker technology which uses a green-on-brown function to manage weeds in fallow scenarios Bilberry is based in France Its technology uses unique artificial intelligence algorithms to identify numerous weeds in multiple crops including canola The company claims a 90 percent kill rate of broadleaf weeds in cereals The technology uses cameras and processors placed every 3 m about 10 ft on sprayer booms Processors transmit information to a cab-mounted computer that analyzes the data and sends signals to open and close the desired spray nozzles Crops are visualized on a weed density map to track the history of a field Existing sprayers can be retrofitted with the technology to apply herbicide to only the weeds rather than spraying a bare field or the entire crop The Bilberry technology’s speed with which its algorithms identify in-crop weeds sets it apart Twenty kph about 12 5 mph is possible while maintaining excellent weed control Perez-Iturbe points to case studies showing Bilberry can reduce herbicide use by 80 percent lowering farmers’ input costs and helping protect the environment By combining the Bilberry technology with Trimble’s equipment they hope to enable spraying solutions for farmers worldwide Bilberry’s AI and extensive weed database will extend Trimble’s crop protection portfolio to the entire growing season rather than only pre-emergent applications Trimble uses dealers and partners worldwide to manage and distribute its equipment and technology Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Trimble Agriculture 10368 Westmoor Dr Westminster Colo 80021 ph 720-887-6100; www trimble com

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