Two German companies, BASF and Bosch, have a joint venture that combines artificial intelligence and autonomous agriculture. The two firms have been working together since 2016 and formed a joint venture last year. The first result of that effort is a smart sprayer that uses real-time automated weed identification and management. In a matter of a millisecond, the smart sprayer will detect weeds and spot apply the herbicide. “The smart sprayer piece is about precision,” said Greg Kruger, senior agronomist, xarvio digital farming. “Instead of talking about making an application across an entire acre, it is now thinking about where we need to get that product and how do we need to place it so we get the right product, right place, right time and right rate.” One smart sprayer was tested this past year in the U.S. and now “we’ll have a couple machines that are going to be spread out across the Midwest this year.” No specifics were given, but BASF experts said there would be a return on investment with the smart sprayer within two-to-four years.
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