A SIMPLE SEAMLESS UPGRADE

John Deere See & Spray™ Premium upgrades have slashed this New York farmer's spray bill.

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Where Lance Rovers farms in northern Clinton County, N.Y., the topography can change from low-level lakefront about 180 feet above sea level to hillsides topping 900 feet.

Rovers is the third-generation owner of Rovers Dairy, LLC near the town of Chazy, N.Y. The farm includes about 4,000 acres along the Lake Champlain valley, west into higher ground and north to the Canadian border. The farm's average field size is about 75 acres, although one tract is 700 acres and another is 450 acres. The mix of field size, topography, and crop rotation — which includes mostly corn and soybeans and a few hundred acres of soft winter wheat, alfalfa, and grass hay — make John Deere See & Spray™ technology a perfect fit.

Easy Efficiency Gains

In 2024, Rovers Dairy added the See & Spray Premium Precision Upgrade kit to its 2023 John Deere 612R sprayer. The sprayer's ExactApply™ nozzles have individual control and precision droplet size; they figured the dealer-installed See & Spray Premium option would add even more precision, paying off in fallow and burndown acres.

Efficiency gains in acres per hour and dollars saved per acre have been huge. Rovers figures the technology has a two-year payback.