TEL AVIV, Israel & SAN CARLOS, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Greeneye Technology, the pioneer of AI precision ag spraying technology, and Farmers Business Network® (FBN®), a global farmer-to-farmer network and agtech company, today announced their agreement to test Greeneye’s groundbreaking precision spraying system in FBN’s 2022 On-Farm Field Trials Program. FBN will conduct field trials in the Midwest throughout the 2022 growing season to test the efficacy of applying tailor-made herbicide programs using Greeneye’s precision spraying system across a range of geographies and field conditions.
“FBN’s On-Farm Field Trials program was launched to give agtech startups the opportunity to test their products on a massive scale and gather a large dataset to accelerate the entire innovation process. Greeneye is a great example of the technologies we’re testing that can leverage real-world performance data to accelerate adoption,” said Matthew Meisner, Vice President of R&D and Data Science at FBN. “Precision spraying is an essential tool for effective weed control, and Greeneye promises to enable farmers to invest in more effective formulations that provide a solution to herbicide-resistant weeds and chemical drift. The combination of Greeneye’s unique AI-enabled precision spraying technology and FBN’s chemicals expertise will help unlock the benefits of cost-effective tailor-made precision spraying programs to our rapidly expanding network of farmers.”
The FBN field trials will support Greeneye’s commercial launch in the U.S. this spring where it is contracted to work with farmers in the Midwest before increasing availability to other states in 2023. The Israeli company, which recently closed a $22 million funding round including investment from Syngenta and AGCO, is leading the charge to drive mainstream adoption of precision spraying by solving previous barriers including cost, accuracy and speed of delivery. It has developed proprietary AI-enabled technology that can detect and spray weeds amongst crops (green on green) with 95.7% accuracy at commercial travel speed. Furthermore, the system can be retrofitted onto any brand and size of commercial sprayer, removing the need for farmers to invest in new machines. In earlier field trials, the Greeneye system was proven to reduce herbicide use by 78% and costs by more than 50% on average compared to traditional broadcast spraying.
In addition to the precision application of chemicals, Greeneye’s system collects and analyzes high-resolution data from the field, providing users with valuable insights on weed populations, crop stand count, diseases, and more. Farmers can use these insights to introduce more effective herbicide programs that are not affordable when sprayed on a broadcast basis. Combined with the system’s ability to identify weeds down to a species level, this provides a clear path to tackling the growing threat to global food production posed by herbicide-resistant weeds.
Nadav Bocher, CEO, Greeneye Technology, added: “Greeneye is dedicated to increasing farmers’ profitability by leveraging technology to reduce the cost of production and maximize productivity, while helping to achieve a more sustainable future. Our system enables farmers to seamlessly transition to precision spraying, significantly reducing chemical use and costs, while also providing a clear path to fighting herbicide resistance. We are delighted to announce the first stage of our agreement with FBN, and we look forward to working alongside its member farmers throughout 2022 and beyond.”
*The only data shared with manufacturers will be data from farmers who opt-in to participate in the On-Farm R&D Network and explicitly consent to provide their data for this purpose.
About Greeneye
Greeneye Technology was founded in 2017 in Tel Aviv, Israel, with the mission to develop alternative and sustainable solutions to current crop protection practices to meet the growing global demand for food production, while also increasing productivity and profitability for farmers. The company is pioneering the use of precision spraying technology by harnessing AI and deep machine learning to enable intelligent, real-time decisions in the field that are proven to cut chemical use by up to 90% and improve weed control efficacy compared to standard broadcast spraying. Its founders have worked together for 15 years since serving in the Israeli special forces and head up a multidisciplinary team with expertise in computer vision, AI, agronomy, mechanical engineering, and business. In October 2021, Greeneye announced the commercial launch of its technology, signalling a major milestone in unlocking mainstream adoption of precision spraying by overcoming previous barriers of efficacy, speed of delivery, and cost. In December 2021, it closed a $22m funding round led by international venture capital firm, JVP, and including investment from agriculture industry leaders, Syngenta and AGCO. Greeneye Technology is online at: https://greeneye.ag/.
About FBN:
Farmers Business Network® (FBN®) is an independent agtech platform and farmer-to-farmer network with a mission to power the prosperity of family farmers around the world, while working toward a sustainable future. Its Farmers First® promise has attracted more than 33,000 members to the network with a common goal of maximizing their farms’ profit potential. FBN has set out to redefine value and convenience for farmers by helping reduce the cost of production and maximize the value of their crops. FBN members farm more than 81 million acres in the U.S., Canada and Australia. The company has over 800 personnel and offices in San Carlos, CA., Chicago, Ill., Sioux Falls, S.D., a Canadian headquarters in High River, Alberta, and an Australian headquarters in Perth. To learn more, visit: www.fbn.com.
