b"all the way to Indiana. We decided that even if weIf you cant get in the field, then you cant getAccording to Greenan, Nexus Robotics is making didnt do very well at the competition, it'd still be athat herbicide on, and so sometimes, youll missgood progress toward its goal of commercializing its worthwhile learning experience. that [herbicide application] window. It would berobotic weeder by 2021.Greenan believes one reason his robot tooknice to have something you can put out to weed yourThis past summer, the R2 Weed2 prototype was top honours at the agBOT challenge was it didntfields, day or night, and it just does the job for you,trialed at Elmridge Farm in Centreville, N.S. The robot resemble anything else in the competition, which wassays Spurr. achieved a field accuracy of close to 90 per cent largely comprised of high-tech weeding implementsHerbicides are expensive. You have to go in awhen tested on a number of vegetable crops. that utilized sensors to perform spot or variable ratefew times, and now its not just one herbicide thatGreenan says the Nexus Robotics team continues herbicide applications. can be used for every weed. You have to spray forto make improvements and is working toward having I think the judges really liked how innovative ourbroadleaf weeds and you also have to spray fora second version of the R2 Weed2 robot ready for field robot was, and they could see the ideas we had weregrasses. If there was something you can put intesting this summer. very unique and applicable to what they would like tothere that just takes everything out robotically, itdAccording to Greenan, this new prototype, which see with weeding, says Greenan. be perfect, he adds. will feature an additional robotic arm he says should Any time you can spray less herbicide, I thinkenable it to weed twice as fast, will likely be trialed BOTTOM LINE BENEFITS it would be better for the environment and would beon farmland somewhere in the Holland Marsh agri-William Spurr is field manager for Spurr Brothersbetter for the bottom line, too. cultural area near Toronto, Ont. Farms in Kingston, N.S, which grows potatoes and aAndrew McKenzie-Gopsill, an Agriculture andTheres a huge amount of vegetable production number of other crops. Spurr really likes the idea of aAgri-Food Canada weed scientist based in Charlotte- [in the Holland Marsh region] and its really well robotic weeder. town, P.E.I., believes autonomous machines like thesuited for the technology that were developing. I think that it would help out potato production aR2 Weed2 robot that offer a more targeted approachFarmers there also have a lot of challenges with lot, he says. The biggest thing we grow are Superi- to weed management is where the ag industry isherbicide-resistant weeds, Greenan says, adding or potatoes, but there are a lot of herbicides that sayheaded in Canada. theres a possibility potato plots will be included in right on the labels do not use for that variety.I think theres a lot of potential there, especiallythe R2 Weed2 testing this year.Spurr points out because herbicide applicationsas we want to try and reduce pesticide usage, andNexus Robotics commercialization strategy for in potatoes are weather-dependent, farmers oftenin light of the herbicide resistance issues that wereR2 Weed2 is to start with a weeding service it can have to cope with rain delays when spraying. facing, he says.offer to farmers by 2021. Greenan says the company is currently seeking out investors for a seed financing round that would enable Nexus to build a few more robots to have ready for the weeding service launch next year.Greenan believes the R2 Weed2 could play a big part in integrated pest management in the future, and he says a long-term goal for the Nexus Robotics team is to design a robot that not only detects crop diseases and problem insects, but also assesses soil fertility and moisture conditions in the field.We plan on trying to integrate whatever tech-nology we can in terms of sensors on to the robot to collect the best data for the farmer that we can, he says.Greenan sees a day when ag robots like his are a common sight in farmers fields.I think that as labour challenges continue to increase, as herbicide-resistant weed problems continue to increase, and as technology like ours becomes more efficient and less expensive, its going to be more and more appealing, says Greenan. 32 SPUDSMART.COM WINTER 2020"