GRDC and SmartSat CRC team up to lead project on satellite imagery targeting crop weeds

A new four-year research project will be analysing the use of remote sensing technologies for targeting weeds such as annual ryegrass. The project, led by Grains Research and Development Corporation and SmartSat CRC, will also focus on fallow weeds, brassicas in winter crops, and hard-to-kill weeds like feathertop Rhodes grass, fleabane and barnyard grass in summer row crops. DataFarming managing director and digital agronomy specialist Tim Neale said high resolution imagery from the latest generation of military-grade satellites, coupled with algorithms that can tell the difference between weed plants and crops, can turn any sprayer into a spot sprayer without any up-front capital expense. “The images we can currently access from these satellites clearly show plants within a 30cm by 30cm area on the ground,” he said. “Using algorithms to detect and identify weeds in fallow or within a crop, we can generate a map that the grower can load into their spray equipment and use the boom’s nozzle or section control to spray only the areas of the paddock with weeds present.” Mr Neale said the visible spectrum for humans is three different bands of light — red, green and blue. “But the latest generation satellites can see up to 350 bands of light,” he said. “It is now possible to discriminate between different plant species to separate target weeds from the crop. “We are collecting data for green-on-green detection of ryegrass in wheat this winter and hope to have algorithms ready to field test in 2025.” Growers who wish to participate can do so remotely, with a spray map file emailed to the grower ready to upload or be pushed directly to the machine through connections with programs like the John Deere Operations Centre. “With growers and agronomists managing increasingly large production areas, it is very easy to miss early warning signs,” Mr Neale said. “There is also great scope to use this technology for monitoring and managing crop nutrition, pests and diseases.”