The ROI of Precision Spray Technology
Tim Hammerich
News Reporter
There’s a lot of cool spray technology hitting the market in recent years, from John Deere’s See & Spray to Verdant Robotics Sharpshooter. But what is the return on investment of these new technologies? Verdant Robotics co-founder Curtis Garner says in the case of their Sharpshooter, the economics are pretty compelling.
Garner… “ Yeah, so you're primarily replacing the hand labor for weeding right now. That's the main value that we're driving for growers and really what's motivating their purchase decisions right now. So you're taking, a crew of 20 to 150 folks and the machine's able to go ahead and do that work and do it well. Our growers are self-reporting up to 85% reduction in their hand weeding bills which has actually been phenomenal.”
And Garner says it’s not just growers that are buying the machines. Everyone is facing labor shortages including labor contractors.
Garner… “ So we're actually having labor contractors purchase the units. Labor availability is a huge issue.”
If you’d like to take a closer look at the machine and you missed them at World Ag Expo this year, they will be on the road this season.
Garner… “ So for 2025, this next spring, we're gonna be demoing up and down the West coast of the United States. So please just reach out and come to a demo. We’d love to show you the machine.”
Again that’s Curtis Garner of Verdant Robotics.
