Tyler Troiola used John Deere See & Spray Premium for the first time. The retrofit kit uses 36 cameras and machine learning to selectively target spray weeds. Troiola used it on corn at 10 inches, 14 inches and 18 inches. When corn was 10 inches tall, he says See & Spray only sprayed about 18% of the field, which adds up to over 80% in herbicide savings. It went down to about 70% savings on 14-inch-tall corn, and 60% savings on 18-inch-tall corn.

We’re hopping in the DeLorean time machine for our Video of the Week and going way back to 2011 for a star-studded field day in Mercer County, Ohio. No-Till Innovators Jim Hoorman, Ray Archuleta and the late Dave Brandt, gathered to talk about the concept of ‘ECO Farming,’ which stands for eternal no-till, cover crops and other best management practices.

There’s new smart spray technology from precision ag startup Sentera that could lower herbicide usage by up to 70%. It’s called Aerial WeedScout. It uses aerial imaging from a drone and artificial intelligence to detect weeds. Then it creates prescriptions within 24 hours that can be executed through any precision sprayer. Sentera CTO Eric Taipale explains what separates Aerial WeedScout from other precision spraying options on the market.

Annville, Pa., no-tiller Zach Alger is a big believer in the benefits of cover crops. His 318-bushel corn yield was good enough for first place in the state’s 2023 NCGA Corn Yield Contest. Alger says planting conditions across his farm have improved quite a bit since he started using wheat as a cover crop about 10 years ago.

The “Billion Dollar Bug” meanwhile is at it again across much of the Corn Belt. The corn rootworm risk level is high, according to the latest Pest Report from InsectForecast.com

On this episode of Conservation Ag Update, brought to you by the 2024 National Strip-Tillage Conference, Eagle, Wis., no-tiller Tyler Troiola uses John Deere See & Spray Premium for the first time, which he says delivered significant herbicide savings on corn but not quite as much on soybeans.

Time now for our Video of the Week. This one comes to us from Carlisle County, Ky. Brad Reddick reflects on his switch to no-till, and his son Joel explains why they’re playing small ball with cover crops.