John Deere unveiled a new sensor-based starter fertilizer placement technology for planters as part of the company’s keynote address at the CES 2023 tech industry show in Las Vegas on Thursday.
The ExactShot system is designed to send out precise small bursts (approximately 0.2 ml) of starter fertilizer onto individual seeds as they are planted, rather than applying a continuous flow of liquid fertilizer in the seed row.
The technology is designed to work at planting speeds of up to 10 miles per hour, Deanna Kovar, John Deere’s vice president, production and precision ag production systems, told the CES audience.
“The speed, synchronization, and precision at which this is happening in the field was previously unthinkable,” she said, highlighting the financial and environmental benefits of applying less fertilizer at a large scale.
Deere says ExactShot will allow farmers to reduce the amount of seed-placed fertilizer by more than 60 per cent, and that it could reduce the use of starter fertilizer across the U.S. corn crop by more than 93 million gallons annually. (It’s not clear how much of that fertilizer would still be required later in the growing season to sustain the same yields.)
The company also unveiled a new electric excavator, powered by a Kreisel battery, at CES, which it says will provide construction workers and road builders with lower daily operating costs, reduced jobsite noise, enhanced machine reliability, and zero emissions.
Deere’s opening-day keynote address at the massive tech industry convention featured several speakers from the company talking about Deere’s future technology plans, led by CEO and chairman John May.
“John Deere is not only a manufacturing company. We’ve quickly become one of the world’s leading robotic and AI companies,” noted May.
Related: Plants that call for help, John Deere, and the possibility of plant-specific treatments in the field
