Today we’re spotlighting Trimble’s new see and spray technology. It’s called the Bilberry system — a camera-based system that enables farmers to save up to 90% on herbicide applications by only spraying where the weeds are in the field. And as Trimble’s Cory Buchs tells us, one of the best things about it is it retrofits to existing sprayers.

“That’s a huge differentiator of our Bilberry system. Our system is made to be installed on your existing sprayer, so you don’t have to buy a new machine. It can also work with your existing application control systems. You don’t have to pull all off of your existing technology off the sprayer and replace it. We can tie into what’s already there and command the nozzles through your existing system, which ultimately as a farmer saves you a lot of money and reduces the barrier to being able to adopt this technology.”

“In the ag tech space, there’s a lot of innovation happening, but for a lot of systems you have to buy a new machine. That’s a huge investment toward any farm. Most farms can’t afford to roll all of the machines in their fleet every 2-3 years, which is ultimately what a lot of technology companies and OEMs are asking farmers to do to keep up. With the Bilberry system and with a lot of things that Trimble offers we’re ultimately focused on enabling you as the farmer to adopt that technology without buying a new machine.”

The Bilberry system is testing in 10 countries and has systems running in North America this growing season. Corey says Trimble hopes it will be available for sale later this year or early 2025.