Austrian manufacturer Farm-ING has added two smaller machines to its SpotSprayING camera spot-sprayer range, with working widths of 2.5 to 3 metres and 4.5 metres, aimed at arable farmers who want to do their own spot spraying, Future Farming's Jeroen Poldermans reports.

The new versions use the same camera technology as the larger 6 to 12 metre models. A camera every 75 cm distinguishes crops from weeds, and nozzles spaced 5 cm apart are switched individually, so only the weed is sprayed; the smallest spot treated is 55 by 55 mm.

Demand came partly from farmers who do not need a large machine, said Chris van de Lindeloof, sales and marketing manager at importer Farmstore. Interest surfaced at the AgroTechniek Holland machinery show, he said: a large spot sprayer can cost €150,000 to €200,000 and needs many hectares to justify it, while "a small machine can be good enough for a farmer who only wants to spray his own land."

He did not name a minimum farm size. Savings on crop protection products can be counted in euros, he said, but not every benefit can: owning a machine frees growers from a contractor's schedule. "You can more easily go out earlier or make an extra pass."

The 3-metre model is available now through Farmstore from €80,000, and one has already been sold. No final price has been set for the 4.5-metre version, which van de Lindeloof expects to cost about 1.5 times as much, roughly €120,000.

Photo: Kowloonese / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 3.0)

Source: Future Farming