WAKING up to hard-to-kill weed escapes is the worst sort of farming hangover.
Not only do escapes increase the likelihood of developing herbicide resistant populations, control of mature weeds is expensive in terms of herbicide.
European farm machinery manufacturer, Amazone, have moved their self propelled spot spray technology into the trailed market.
Equipping both the UX 5200 and 4200 trailed sprayers with AmaSpot, the proprietary technology will be available in 2018.
Claas Harvest Centre, product manager, Amazone, Craig Hopkins said the technology can significantly reduce herbicide use and spraying costs.
“Spot spraying can slash input costs by up to 80 per cent compared to a full field treatment,” he said.
“There are also time savings in reducing the number of refills required and thus a substantial increase in the number of hectares that can be treated each day.”
Mr Hopkins said AmaSpot combines boom-mounted GreenSense infrared sensors with pulse width modulation nozzles.
“GreenSense infrared sensors scan the field surface and differentiate between green plants and bare ground,” he said.
“Each sensor monitors a 100 cm wide band divided into four sectors, which allows extremely accurate application of crop protection products.
“Individual nozzle switching then opens and closes the selected nozzle in a split-second to apply the herbicide exactly at desired position.
“This combination enables the precise application of herbicides to individual plants, even at forward speeds of up to 20 km/h or at night.”
The combination enables precise application of herbicides to individual plants
- Craig Hopkins
Mr Hopkins said pulse width frequency modulation (PWFM) nozzles are controlled by valves with a high frequency range of 50 hertz.
“This high switching speed means the valves can be opened or closed in two milliseconds, while the application rate can be adjusted from 30 to 100 per cent, or turned off or on, in two milliseconds,” he said.
“If the nozzle is moving quicker than the sprayer, the opening time and thus the application rate is increased for a short time.
“If the nozzle moves slower than the sprayer, it remains closed longer and the application rate is reduced.
“PWFM regulation means spray pressure and droplet size is always maintained.”