John Deere Acquires Smart Apply Air-Blast Spray Technology
In mid-July John Deere announced its acquisition of Smart Apply.
Smart Apply is based in Indianapolis and focused its product development on precision air-blast spraying. Its Intelligent Spray Control System can be used in orchards, vineyards or tree nurseries to:
- Reduce overall chemical use on average by 50%
- Reduce Airborne drift up 87%
- Achieve 93% reduction in run off
- Use on average 50% less water
Smart Apply was founded in 2014. At the time of its acquisition, the company had 20 full-time employees.
“This is a natural progression of the two companies’ working relationship,” said Mike Bailey, director, Small Tractor & HVC Production System at John Deere. “It’s a continuation of our commitment to high-value crop customers and dealers, further expanding a portfolio of solutions to help growers address their biggest challenges around labor, input costs, and regulatory requirements, while achieving environmental goals.”
Smart Apply’s Intelligent Spray Control uses LiDAR technology to sense individual trees/vines, calculate foliage density and then automatically adjust spray volume and eliminate spraying between trees/vines.
“Both John Deere and Smart Apply recognize the importance of high-value crops. We are committed to investing in innovation and technology that best serves producers who raise high-value crops and helps solve their problems,” said Jerry Johnson, president and CEO at Smart Apply.
The system also collects data from the field applications such as:
- date and time of spraying
- overall spray volumes
- chemical savings
- tree counts
- canopy volume
- health of individual trees or vines
- acres/hectares sprayed
