Precision Planting adding new products to the agriculture market

Precision Planting’s entrance into the sprayer market was announced during the company winter conference in Tremont. Precision Planting Director of Product Justin McMenamy explained a new vision for the field in order to help growers improve their operations.

“The first lens we focus through is improved agronomy,” said McMenamy. The company will be releasing a lineup of three hydraulic diaphragm pumps. EMHD is a product designed to complement EM FlowSense to independently control the flow of fertilizer at each row. Hardware characteristics are integrated into the product.

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“We wanted a liquid system that was simple,” McMenamy noted. ReClaim is a system that can be installed on any sprayer allowing boom priming without putting any product on the ground as boom priming and clean-out is typically a frustrating task for the sprayer operator. This is compatible with most sprayers built in the last 25 years. It includes a single rocker switch in the cab and is only used at the beginning of a field. A light turns on when the system is primed.

Another major announcement included the Precision Planting vision module bringing the power of vision technology to the field. “We’re bringing the power of the 20|20 (monitor) into the sprayer cab,” explained McMenamy.

“I can now maintain my pressure across my speed range,” said Luke Stuber, senior product manager in the Precision Planting R&D Department.

Jason Stoller, senior product manager in the R&D Department, told growers they need to think about herbicide programs at an individual weed level which is why the company is developing software which can observe characteristics of a field using vision technology applied to a sprayer.

“Nothing about weeds is known until the day you spray,” Stoller observed. The software can detect weed pressure in the field, emergence issues and crop health. Planter downforce maps have taught growers plenty about their fields in the past and Precision Planting feels similar maps with weed pressure will be valuable – showing those problematic areas of a field.

“I can make a decision with my retailer to make adjustments to my program,” Stoller added. If a field’s weed density goes up, the sprayer operator can manually bump-up the rate from the cab. Once Symphony is tied into the vision technology, a farmer will be able to spot spray their field. This also leads to smarter application rates in the future.

Winter Conference at Tremont has become an annual industry event to help farmers improve their operations through new product releases. It was presented in 19 remote locations across the United States in addition to Tremont.

“We believe in the value of interaction,” said marketing manager Bryce Baker. “Our passion is to help farmers become better.” Precision Planting believes the equipment a farmer already owns is the best way to get better by improving the equipment without having to buy something brand new.

This article originally appeared on Pontiac Daily Leader: Precision Planting adding new products to the agriculture market

Camera-based row guidance allows the operator to know where the crop and sprayer are at to eliminate running over crops. This means farmers don’t have to spend all of their energy just staying in the row. Future possibilities include using this technology with cultivation and side-dress.

A product known as Symphony is a nozzle control which allows the pressure and target rate to be set on the Generation III monitor. It allows complete control over the physical aspect of spraying. Pressure control is something growers don’t always think about.2-97-6