SASKATOON — Travis Albrecht believes precision, backed by real-time data, is the tool that can keep a company like Weed-It Canada ahead of its competitors, as advanced precision spray technology continues to evolve rapidly.
Weed-It Canada’s precision spraying technology earned national recognition this week, with ag specialist Albrecht accepting the 206 Western Canadian Crop Production Show Innovation Award on the company’s behalf in Saskatoon.
Weed-It, formerly operated under the Netherlands-based company Rometron, provides advanced sensor-based precision spraying technology for farmers. Its sprayers cut chemical use and costs by using fluorescence to detect weeds and apply herbicides only where needed.
Albrecht works as a contractor for Weed-It Canada and is an ag specialist with Johnston’s Grain Regenerative. He said biomass sensing and on-the-fly application rate adjustment are creating a clear competitive advantage for early adopters, unlike traditional approaches that rely on satellite imagery or pre-programmed maps.
“That’s what’s going to set us apart for a while. Being able to sense biomass in real time and vary the rate instantly, and that’s where we’re pulling ahead of the pack,” said Albrecht, who added that the system reads crop conditions in real time, adjusting spray rates every few inches based on what sensors detect beneath the boom.
Albrecht said he is closely involved in the rollout of advanced spot-spraying systems and that the technology goes beyond cost savings. He sees it as a fundamental shift in how farmers manage inputs, weeds and long-term soil health.
One of Weed-It’s most significant breakthroughs is the ability to spray between crop rows and tailor applications to actual plant density rather than averages. Each nozzle responds independently, adjusting output every 10 inches based on biomass percentages detected by sensors.
Albrecht said the system offers a level of accuracy that was not achievable in commercial farming until recently. Once further enhanced, he expects the technology will keep users ahead of those still relying on blanket applications.
He added that even as similar technology is adopted by more companies, Weed-It still considers itself a leader in the field and believes increased competition among equipment manufacturers is accelerating innovation.
“When we really get this nailed down, that’s what excites me the most. I like competition. It pushes us to be better and stay at the forefront. For us, to be ahead of the competition, I believe that the biomass sensing and being able to sense biomass in real time,” said Albrecht.
“Varying the spray rate is going to be what sets us ahead of the competitors for a little while, and our real recognition, and being able to spray in between the plants in a row, when we have that developed, will be keeping us ahead of the pack.”
Albrecht has worked with precision spray systems for nearly a decade and said experience matters as much as hardware when it comes to farming conditions, which vary dramatically across Western Canada. A system that works in southern Alberta, he noted, may need to be configured very differently in other parts of the province.
