Spot Spraying in the UK: Cutting Chemical Use Without Compromising Weed Control
For decades, the standard approach to controlling weeds with a crop sprayer has been relatively simple: if weeds are present in a field, spray the whole field.
It works, but it also means applying herbicide to thousands of square metres where there may be no target weeds at all.
Spot spraying changes that
Instead of treating every square metre equally, spot spraying uses cameras, sensors, mapping and increasingly AI to identify where weeds are actually present. The sprayer can then target those areas while leaving the rest of the field untreated.
For UK farmers and contractors, this has the potential to significantly reduce chemical use and cost while maintaining effective weed control.
At FieldCraft Technologies, we're already working with several different approaches to spot spraying, from Carbon Bee camera systems fitted directly to sprayers through to drone-based weed mapping with CultiWise.
The important point is that there isn't one single way into spot spraying. Different systems suit different farms, crops, sprayers and budgets.
Why spray 100% of a field when the weeds only cover a fraction of it? Spot spraying
This is really the question at the heart of spot spraying.
Imagine a 20-hectare field where weeds are only present across 10% of the total area.
A conventional blanket application treats all 20 hectares.
A spot application potentially only needs to treat around two hectares.
Real-world results obviously depend on weed pressure, weed distribution, application parameters, and the technology being used, but the principle remains the same:
The less unnecessary area we treat, the less chemical we need to use.
That brings several potential benefits.
There is the obvious saving in chemical cost, but there are other advantages too. Reduced chemical use can mean fewer tank fills, less product handling, less packaging and potentially more hectares covered from each sprayer load.
It can also give growers another tool for improving the precision of their weed-control programmes.
Most importantly, spot spraying isn't about simply applying less chemical everywhere.
It's about applying chemical where it is needed.
Spot spraying grassland in Scotland
One of the most interesting applications we've been involved with is on grassland in Scotland.
Our customer provides spraying services for his own customers, including grassland containing clover.
The challenge is straightforward.
There may be docks and thistles scattered throughout the field, but a blanket herbicide treatment can also affect desirable plants such as clover.
Instead, the customer is using the Carbon Bee Smart Striker X to identify and target the unwanted weeds.
The Smart Striker X uses cameras and artificial intelligence to analyse what is in front of the sprayer. Rather than treating everything underneath the boom, the system identifies target weeds and communicates with the sprayer so that the appropriate sections or nozzles can apply chemical where required.
This changes the approach completely.
Instead of asking:
"How do we spray this field?"
We can start asking:
"Where are the weeds that actually need treating?"
For a contractor, that can also become an important service to offer customers.
You're no longer simply selling hectares sprayed. You're providing a more targeted application backed up by technology and data.
Knowing what actually happened
Application data is becoming almost as important as the application itself.
We've developed an API-based system using AI that processes data from the spot-spraying operation and presents it back to the customer, directly from Carbon Bee's HIVE platform.
Click on the images below to expand and see the full picture.
Spot Spray map from Carbon Bee Smart Striker X - API from HIVE into FieldCraft Technologies
After completing the work, the customer can see the results of the application rather than relying solely on knowing that the field was sprayed.
This is an area we think will become increasingly important.
As agricultural machinery generates more information, the value isn't just in collecting huge amounts of data. The real value comes from turning that data into something understandable and useful.
For a contractor, that could mean being able to demonstrate the work completed for a customer.
For a farmer, it provides a much clearer picture of what is happening within individual fields.
And over several seasons, those records could potentially become even more useful as weed populations and treatment areas are compared over time.
Spot spraying in maize
Grassland is only one example.
FieldCraft Technologies has also installed a spot-spraying system on a sprayer being used in maize.
Maize can be particularly interesting for this technology because weed populations aren't necessarily evenly distributed across a field.
With a conventional application, the entire area receives herbicide regardless of whether each part of the field has the same weed pressure.
Using camera-based spot spraying allows weeds to be identified as the sprayer travels through the crop, and chemicals are targeted accordingly.
Again, the objective isn't simply to reduce the rate.
It's to reduce the area being treated unnecessarily.
If weed pressure is high, the percentage sprayed will naturally increase. If weed pressure is low or weeds occur in patches, the potential saving becomes considerably greater.
This is an important distinction when talking about spot spraying.
We shouldn't expect a fixed percentage saving from every field.
The saving is determined by what is actually there.
A dirty field may require a large proportion of the area to be treated. A relatively clean field containing isolated weeds could produce a much larger reduction.
That's exactly how a precision system should work.
It doesn't necessarily mean replacing your sprayer
One of the misconceptions surrounding spot spraying is that adopting the technology means buying an entirely new sprayer.
That isn't necessarily the case.
FieldCraft Technologies can work with existing sprayers and control systems to integrate spot-spraying technology where the machine is suitable.
Carbon Bee Smart Striker X - Chafer Self Propelled - Intsall by FieldCraft Technologies
We've already carried out installations ourselves, integrating the hardware and control side required to turn existing equipment into a spot-spraying machine.
What it demonstrates is how quickly the technology is moving from something experimental into something that can become part of normal spraying operations.
The sprayer is still fundamentally doing the same job.
What's changing is the intelligence controlling where it sprays.
Camera spot spraying isn't the only option
An on-board camera system such as Carbon Bee can be an extremely powerful solution, particularly for operators covering significant areas.
But not every business is ready to invest in a full sprayer-mounted system.
That's where drone-based spot spraying maps become particularly interesting.
FieldCraft Technologies also supplies CultiWise, which provides another route into targeted spraying.
Instead of putting the detection system on the sprayer, the detection happens before the sprayer enters the field.
A drone is flown over the crop and captures high-resolution imagery. That imagery is uploaded and processed through CultiWise to identify weeds and create an application map.
That map can then be transferred to compatible machinery, so the sprayer knows where it needs to apply product.
This creates a different workflow:
Fly → Detect → Process → Create prescription → Spray
For many farms, that can provide a much lower-cost route into spot spraying.
Why drone mapping can make sense
One of the biggest advantages of the drone approach is flexibility.
The detection hardware isn't permanently attached to one sprayer.
A suitable drone can be used across different farms and fields, while the resulting prescription maps can potentially be used with different compatible machines.
DJI M3M DJI Matrice Weed spot spray map from CultiWise
That can make the technology particularly attractive to farmers, agronomists and contractors who want to start experimenting with targeted applications without immediately making a major investment in sprayer-mounted camera hardware.
The drone itself can also have uses beyond weed detection.
Depending on the equipment and software being used, agricultural drone imagery can be used for jobs including crop establishment assessment, plant counts, crop monitoring and identifying areas requiring further investigation.
It means the investment isn't necessarily limited to a single operation.
At FieldCraft Technologies, we can supply CultiWise and help customers understand the drone, mapping and machinery workflow required to make the system work in practice.
We can also fly your fields and give you the prepared maps if you don't have the time or want to do it yourself.
Live cameras or drone maps: which is better?
The answer isn't necessarily that one technology is better than the other.
They solve the problem in different ways.
A camera system such as Carbon Bee detects weeds while the sprayer is travelling through the field. Detection and application are therefore part of the same operation.
That can be extremely attractive for contractors and larger operators because there isn't necessarily a separate mapping operation before spraying.
A drone-based system separates detection from application.
The field is surveyed first, the imagery is processed, and a prescription is created before the sprayer arrives.
That requires another operation, but it also provides flexibility and can lower the initial cost of entering spot spraying.
For some businesses, a drone-based system could be the starting point.
For others, an integrated camera system may make considerably more sense.
And there will undoubtedly be businesses that use both.
The economics aren't just about chemicals
Chemical saving is understandably what attracts most people to spot spraying.
If a system reduces the treated area by 50%, 70%, 80% or potentially even more in the right conditions, the chemical saving can quickly become significant.
But looking only at the price of herbicide doesn't tell the whole story.
Consider what happens when a sprayer uses substantially less product.
The same tank load can potentially cover a larger area.
That can mean fewer journeys back to the filling point, less time spent filling, less water transported around the farm and greater daily output.
For a contractor, productivity can be just as important as chemical cost.
There is also the question of future flexibility.
Crop-protection products are valuable tools, and using them as precisely as possible makes sense both economically and agronomically.
If we can achieve the required weed control while treating substantially less ground, that deserves serious consideration.
Better data could be as important as better spraying
Agriculture has spent years generating more data.
Yield maps, satellite imagery, soil maps, application records, drone imagery and machine telemetry can all tell us something about a field.
The challenge is making that information useful.
Spot spraying creates another valuable layer.
Instead of simply knowing that Field A received a herbicide application, we can potentially know where weeds were detected and where treatment actually occurred.
Combine that information over multiple years and some interesting possibilities begin to appear.
Are particular areas repeatedly suffering from the same weeds?
Are populations expanding or shrinking?
Are certain field features associated with greater weed pressure?
Did last year's treatment reduce the affected area this year?
This is where AI and better integration between platforms could make precision agriculture considerably more useful.
The aim shouldn't be to give farmers another complicated dashboard.
It should be to take complicated information and turn it into simple answers.
That's one of the reasons we've been developing our own API and AI tools around the data coming back from spot-spraying operations.
Spot spraying won't eliminate conventional spraying
It's also important to be realistic about what this technology does.
Spot spraying isn't going to mean every field suddenly uses 90% less chemical.
There will be situations where weed pressure means most of the field needs treating.
There will be products and applications where blanket spraying remains appropriate.
Crop stage, weed size, lighting conditions, crop architecture, detection accuracy, weather, machinery compatibility and product requirements all matter.
The technology therefore needs to be treated as another agronomic tool rather than a magic replacement for conventional spraying.
But when the target is suitable and weeds are distributed unevenly, the logic behind spot spraying becomes very difficult to ignore.
Why treat ground that doesn't contain the target?
Where does spot spraying go next?
We think the next few years will be particularly interesting.
Camera technology is improving.
AI weed-recognition models are improving.
Drones are becoming easier to operate.
Processing imagery is becoming faster.
Sprayer control is becoming more precise.
And perhaps most importantly, these technologies are starting to communicate with each other.
That's when precision agriculture becomes genuinely useful.
A drone identifies a problem.
Software analyses it.
A prescription tells the machine what to do.
The sprayer carries out the application.
Application data comes back from the machine.
AI turns that information into something the farmer or contractor can actually understand.
Instead of precision agriculture being a collection of separate gadgets and maps, it becomes a complete workflow.
Different routes into spot spraying
At FieldCraft Technologies, we're working with several approaches because there isn't a single solution that will suit every farming business.
For operators wanting real-time detection directly on the sprayer, we supply and support the Carbon Bee Smart Striker X.
For customers with suitable existing machinery, we can help with integration and installation.
For businesses looking for a flexible and potentially lower-cost route into targeted applications, we supply CultiWise for drone-based weed detection and prescription mapping.
And because we work with the machinery, GPS, application control, drones and data sides of precision agriculture, we can look at the entire workflow rather than just one component.
Ultimately, the objective is quite simple:
Find the target. Treat the target. Record what happened.
If we can control weeds effectively while significantly reducing the amount of chemical applied to areas where it isn't required, that's a win for the farmer, the contractor and the environment.
Spot spraying is no longer just a demonstration of what might be possible in the future.
It's already working on UK farms.
And we're only just beginning to see what it can do.
Let FieldCraft Technologies help you
If anything that you have read today interests you, or you want to take the next step but aren't sure, get in touch. We want to help and want to see farming businesses reduce input costs and get better profits and better crops as a result!
Email us: info@fieldcraft-tech.co.uk
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