Two more AI supported machines for selective weeding

Labour shortages, herbicide resistances and legislative and societal pressure are urging farmers worldwide to rethink their weed management strategies. Broadacre, cash crop and row crop farmers more and more turn to plant-specific spot spraying technology on field and self-propelled sprayers. For specialty and vegetable crop growers, both conventional and organic, field sprayers are not always the right fit. They can however also benefit from the incredibly rapid development of camera technology, algorithms and artificial intelligence (AI). Especially AI seems to have become a buzz word when it comes to weed detection, recognition and management.

From camera guidance to camera detection

While cameras on hoeing equipment initially were (only) used to guide hoeing blades along crop rows and plants, they’re currently increasingly being used for detecting weeds. Weeds and volunteer plants in various crops such as onions, potatoes, sugar beets as well as leafy greens, salads and other vegetable crops. When the algorithms work and the business case is solid, farmers are keen to embrace the technology very quickly. As for instance is the case for AI supported spot spraying pioneer Ecorobotix and their Ara. The company went from delivering the first Ara in the Netherlands just two years ago, to delivering 90 machines this Spring! A smart weeder nearly 15 times as expensive as the Ecorobotix, yet also with a solid business case is Carbon Robotics’ LaserWeeder.

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Farm-ING InRowING hoe

One of the recent additions to our smart weeders buyers’ guide is the InRowING hoeing machine from Austrian engineering company Farm-ING. The InRowING was initially presented on last year’s Agritechnica trade show in Hanover, Germany. The InRowING hoe is available with working widths of 2, 2.5 and 3 metres as standard but can be delivered with other working widths up to 6 metres on request.

The machine works best if the row distance is equal to or larger than 25 centimetres and if the plant distance is at least 10 centimetres. It not only is suitable for manned tractors; it also is compatible with field robots and autonomous tool carriers. Prices start at €65,000 and the InRowING currently is available in Europe. Farmers from the UK and the USA can issue a request to the company when interested.

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Ullmanna Newman hoe

Another addition to the smart weeders catalogue is Newman from Czech technology company Ullmanna. The Newman is a 6-row, 3 or 3.2 metres AI-supported hoeing machine suitable for a wide variety of crops including garlic, maize, potatoes, pumpkins and sugar beets. It can also be used in crops growing on 0.3 to 1.5 metre beds.

Ullmanna currently sells the Newman rather than offering it on a service-based subscription. A 6-row machine starts from €100,000 and it currently is available to European farmers primarily. The Newman camera technology is also available to OEM hoeing machinery manufacturers. One of the companies that has partnered with Ullmanna on it, is K.U.L.T. Kress.