John Deere announced its See & Spray^™ technology saved farmers an estimated 8 million gallons of herbicide mix* on more than 1 million acres applied during the 2024 growing season, delivering both cost savings and improved sustainability. To put that into perspective, these savings are the equivalent of 12 Olympic-sized swimming pools over an area larger than the state of Rhode Island. The AI-powered weed-sensing technology demonstrated an average herbicide savings of 59%** on corn, soybean and cotton fields across the U.S.

“We’re spraying less chemical, it’s [See & Spray] saving us money, and it’s better for the environment,” said Bill Came, a farmer from Salina, Kansas. “We ran through our herbicide costs we were going to have and dropped them by two-thirds. That is going to make our sprayer payment.”

Introduced by John Deere in 2021, See & Spray technology activates individual spray nozzles when target weeds are “seen” by boom-mounted cameras. The cameras scan over 2,100 square feet of crop per second as the sprayer is in motion, at up to 15 mph. Onboard processors then determine whether an individual plant is a crop or weed and sends commands to individual ExactApply^™ nozzles, which deliver a precise dose of herbicide only where the weed is recognized. The technology is currently available for application on corn, soybean, cotton and fallow fields.

Importantly, customers using See & Spray only pay for the acres where it is used. This enables farmers to only pay for what they need, and ensures they continue to see value as the technology improves over time.  In 2025, John Deere will also introduce the Application Savings Guarantee, which will give customers added peace of mind by ensuring they only pay for the technology when there is a savings in application.

“We looked at what we were spending on post-emergence weed control and felt we could justify this [technology] if we sprayed only 50% of our acres post,” said Chad Buendorf, a farmer from New Richland, Minnesota. “In the end, we only sprayed 11% of our corn acres with post-emergence herbicide and averaged only spraying 20% of our soybeans with both applications.”

See & Spray technology gives farmers and custom applicators a powerful tool to maximize cost efficiency and in-field productivity. According to a recent Iowa State University study, See & Spray technology demonstrated an average of 76% product savings across all test fields and an economic savings of $15.7/ac.*** And by targeting herbicide application only to weeds in the field, farmers can better support land stewardship and sustainability practices as well.

See & Spray^™ Ultimate, which includes a 120 ft. carbon fiber boom and dual-tank solution, is available on John Deere sprayers from the factory. See & Spray^™ Premium is available on both John Deere and Hagie sprayers from the factory and as a Precision Upgrade on model year 2018 or newer John Deere sprayers with a 120 ft. steel boom with BoomTrac Pro 2, ExactApply™ nozzles and 15” or 20” row spacing.

*Calculated by using an average of 15 gallons per acre for nonresidual herbicide product applied.

**Compared to broadcast spraying and based on use of See & Spray Premium and Ultimate.

***Iowa State University Extension and Outreach, Integrated Crop Management, Precision Spraying Technology, August 22, 2024.