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Robots Improve Cover Crop Seeding In Corn
EarthSense has developed a method of seeding cover crops in corn fields without using a drone or waiting until the corn stalks are harvested.
The TerraPreta is a small, 18-in. wide seeding robot that features a small hopper that holds up to 90 lbs. of seed, an auger system that pushes it to the dispensing mechan
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Robots Improve Cover Crop Seeding In Corn
EarthSense has developed a method of seeding cover crops in corn fields without using a drone or waiting until the corn stalks are harvested.
The TerraPreta is a small, 18-in. wide seeding robot that features a small hopper that holds up to 90 lbs. of seed, an auger system that pushes it to the dispensing mechanism, and a blower that evenly spreads the seed across five 30-in. spaced corn rows. A single robot can seed approximately 20 acres in 6 to 8 hrs.
“The robots have GPS, but it’s notoriously unreliable in corn rows under the heavy canopy, so we operate without it,” says Project Lead Antony Silvetti-Schmitt. “Our biggest innovation is our front-mounted computer vision camera sensors to recognize row structure, predict the path and navigate.”
The units are powered by rechargeable lithium batteries. A full battery charge lasts about 4 to 8 acres or 3 to 4 hrs.
Seeding speed is comparable to drone seeding, but the robots carry more weight and get much better seed-to-soil contact, as the seed doesn’t need to find its way down through the heavy canopy.
EarthSense currently operates 20 robots but is manufacturing another 40 this year. In 2024, they seeded around 1,000 acres, but with the added units, they expect to reach approximately 10,000 acres in 2025.
“We’ll sell the robots, but for now, we want to become the best full-service provider possible,” Silvetti-Schmitt says. “We want farmers to call us, give us a window of seeding days, and we’ll come with people who know how to operate them and the seed required. We’ll seed the field and leave without any headache on the farmer’s part. Our goal is to make cover cropping easy and inexpensive. We’re a robotics company, but we want people to consider us the cover crop kings.”
Silvetti-Schmitt says the cost to the farmer this year will be around $5 to $10 per acre, including robots, staff and seed.
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, EarthSense Agricultural Intelligence, 1800 S. Oak St., Suite 111, Champaign, Ill. 61820 (ph 708-548-0209; hello@earthsense.co; www.earthsense.co).
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