On the first day of the CES 2023 Show in Las Vegas, Jan. 5-8, John Deere unveiled two new technologies for the first time this year: ExactShot and an electric excavator.
CES is the world’s largest and most influential electronics and new technology show, which has been held since 1967. The exhibition features new products from all over the world and from various industries, including agriculture. This year the show was held from January 5 to 8 in Las Vegas and brought together more than 3,200 exhibitors from 170 countries and regions. Among them was the most valuable agro brand John Deere, which representatives presented two innovations. One of them is ExactShot technology, which is supposed to increase food productivity.
Population is growing, but there is no more arable land
The world’s population has recently surpassed 8 billion people. By 2050, it is estimated to increase to nearly 10 billion. Of course, the acreage devoted to food production will not increase, so farmers face the enormous challenge of increasing productivity by 60-70% while preserving nature. That’s where technology comes in.
“Everything we do at John Deere is geared toward a real goal and a real impact,” said Jami Hindman, John Deere’s chief technology officer.
“That means we’re developing technologies that enable our customers to produce the food, fuel, natural fiber and infrastructure that a growing global population needs,” Jami Hindman added.
What is John Deere ExactShot?
ExactShot is a precision fertilizer dosing technology for wide-row crops that reduces the starting dose by more than 60%. The solution is to use sensors instead of a continuous flow of fertilizer to precisely dose it. The main goal that John Deere set when developing this technology was to increase productivity and profitability of crop production while maintaining sustainability.
It shoots with precision
ExactShot uses a sensor to register the moment a single grain hits the ground. At that moment, the robot will immediately spray a small amount of fertilizer (about 0.2 ml) onto it. John Deere reports that ExactShot technology can save more than 93 million gallons of starter fertilizer per year when growing corn in the U.S. A second positive effect of this solution is that the precisely applied fertilizer is used only by the crop and does not feed weeds. The risk of leaching the fertilizer from the soil and getting it into waterways is virtually zero.
