SensNews Feb 2017

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17 Sensor100 February 2017
Weed and
Reducing Chemical Usage
WEEDS, particularly the irksome fleabane, skeleton and feathertop Rhodes grass, can
make or break a business as big as Robin Schaefer’s. Robin has a 10,500ha cropping
operation at Bulla Burra, in South Australia’s Loxton district, and spraying weeds that
are hell-bent on destroying his paddocks used to be a never-ending chore.
About four years ago, Robin bit the bullet and bought an Optical Spray Technology
system, calledWEEDit, which is a boom sprayer that uses near infrared (NIR) and red
light sensing technology to locate weeds in a fallow paddock.
He reports that there are five lenses controlling five nozzles and when the sensors
detect chlorophyll, the chemical substance that makes weeds green, it sprays. Because
this eliminates the more traditional method of blanket spraying a fallow paddock, the
use of chemicals is drastically reduced.
Reported by: 19 February