John Deere ExactShot applies starter fertiliser per seed

John Deere’s ExactShot planting technology uses sensors and robotics to place fertiliser precisely onto seeds as they are planted in the soil, rather than applying a continuous flow of fertiliser to the entire row of seeds.

Starter fertiliser sprayed directly onto the seed

ExactShot uses a sensor to register when each individual seed is in the process of going into the soil. As this occurs, a robot will spray only the amount of starter fertiliser needed, about 0.2 ML, directly onto the seed at the exact moment as it goes into the ground.

According to John Deere across the U.S. corn crop, ExactShot could save over 93 million gallons of starter fertiliser annually and prevent wasted fertilizer from encouraging weed growth or increasing the risk of running off the field into a waterway.

For various reasons, global fertiliser prices have skyrocketed, especially nitrogen prices. How are crop growers worldwide coping with this? And what new precision techniques can help growers apply fertiliser as efficiently as possible? Find out in this series of articles about high fertiliser prices and how farmers around the world deal with them.