WITH rising chemical costs, labour shortages and soil degradation impacting Australian farming operations, farmers are actively looking for alternative solutions.
WEED-IT by Rometron Australia is a leader in ground-breaking technology which is helping farmers combat some of the biggest challenges faced by the farming sector today.
Designed and manufactured in the Netherlands, WEED-IT technology is established as the market leader for spot spraying technology, with more than 20,000 sensors operating in Australia.
With its Australian headquarters based in Lockwood, Victoria, engineering manager Hamish McIntosh said the technology had been customised to meet Australia’s harsh environmental conditions, providing unique, intelligent farming solutions, which included savings on chemical usage, while conquering previously hard-to-kill weeds.
“Growers can expect to achieve savings of up to 90 per cent on chemical costs,” Mr McIntosh said.
“This is achieved by the WEED-IT sensors detecting active chlorophyll and spraying only weeds, not dirt.”
The proven technology is fast gaining popularity throughout the eastern seaboard of Australia as farmers look toforwards ways to continually adapt to new technologies to meet their ever-changing needs.
With optimal performance and efficiencies at the forefront of the technology, WEED-IT technology can be installed on new-builds or retro-fitted.
The engineering team at Rometron Australia have used their extensive technical expertise to bring the benefits of WEED-IT technology to a range of self-propelled sprayers, including Goldacres, John Deere, Rogator and Millennium booms.
However, the technology is not limited to broadacre farming, with the release of the WEED-IT Optispot 7 for the horticultural industry following increased demand from industry leaders.
“The orchard sprayer features 12 sensors over seven metres, bringing the benefits of WEED-IT technology to nut growers and citrus producers,” Mr McIntosh said.
WEED-IT technology is more than a spot sprayer – it utilises Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) technology, making it ideal for blanket spraying.
Mr McIntosh said PWM allowed the regulation of the application rate – independently of the speed – with constant pressure maintaining the droplet size: a key factor in spray effectiveness and drift minimisation.
Another advantage of PWM is turn compensation that applies products evenly in corners, whether that be circling a tree or following the natural contours of the paddock.
“PWM adjusts the flow for each nozzle to match the desired application rate,” Mr McIntosh said, adding this prevented over-application at the inner boom nozzles and under-application at the outer boom nozzles when turning.
WEED-IT is also ISOBUS compatible to give section control with one-metre sections, eliminating overlapping.
Rometron Australia has partnered with Australia’s best boomspray manufacturers to provide WEED-IT customised sprayers for the broadacre cropping and horticulture industries.
Continually adapting to the changing needs of the industry, WEED-IT by Rometron Australia is working with manufacturer Agtronics on the release of a 48-metre-wide Chaser ground-following boom, to complement its existing range of products, with widths up to 36 metres.
Attendees at this year’s Mallee Machinery Field Days will have the opportunity to see the prototype unveiled, ahead of its release later this year.
“We’re looking forward to unveiling it at the Mallee Machinery Field Days at Speed,” Mr McIntosh said.
“We are trialling it at the moment and plan to release it onto the market in the next three to four months.”
