John Deere announces acquisition of Smart Apply

Deere & Company (John Deere) has acquired Smart Apply, Inc., a producer of precision spraying equipment based in Indianapolis, Indiana.

The company has developed the Smart Apply Intelligent Spray Control System, an upgrade kit that "can improve the accuracy and performance of virtually any air jet sprayer used in orchard, vineyard and tree nursery spray applications."

“This is a natural progression of the two companies’ working relationship,” said Mike Bailey, director of small tractors and HVC production systems at John Deere.

According to a statement from John Deere, which has been working with the product since 2020, Smart Apply's precision spraying helps achieve "up to 93% less chemical runoff and up to 87% reduction in aerial drift, while reducing the use of chemicals by an average of 50%".

System operation

The company says its "Lidar" (light detection and ranging) technology detects the presence of individual trees and vines and automatically adjusts spray volume based on foliage density to optimize protection. The system stops spraying between trees and rows, adjusting itself without human intervention.

Smart Apply's proprietary GPS-enabled software captures data while spraying. The system documents spray date and time, overall spray volumes, chemical savings, tree count, canopy volume, health of individual trees or vines, and acres sprayed.

Producers can choose to share their Smart Apply data with John Deere Operations Center farm management software.

About Smart Apply

Smart Apply was founded in 2014 and has approximately 20 full-time employees. Smart Apply is sold primarily through John Deere dealerships in the US, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Canada and England. In the future, Deere plans to offer Smart Apply across much of its dealer network in North America and Australia and will explore additional opportunities in new markets.