Precision tech for sprayer booms keeps things at a consistent height even when the terrain gets wonky.
By Andrew Joseph, Farms.com
As far as small-town Ontario family-owned ag tech business Greentronics Ltd. goes, it has a precision ag tool to make the global market blush with envy.
Although the company’s auto tilt controller, conveyor scale and yield monitor products continue to be key contributors to the company’s continued growth, its RiteHeight product has become Greentronics’ single-most important and popular product in North America and around the world.
The beauty of the RiteHeight is that it keeps a sprayer’s booms automatically at a consistent height. This reduces the need for manual height adjustments in hilly terrain and minimizes the risk of boom contact with the ground.
“From the start,” explained Bill Menkveld, Sales & Admin. for Greentronics, “our goal for this product was to have a system that most sprayer owners would feel comfortable installing themselves.
“This meant designing a system without a requirement for additional hydraulics, but one that could be installed by connecting directly with the sprayers’ own factory-installed hydraulic boom valves,” he continued. “By going in this direction, we ensured that the system would only require a few components and be quick and straightforward to install.
“Most importantly,” added Menkveld, “we could set a price point that made the system attractive even for sprayers with a relatively low value due to age or type.”
Greentronics was conceived in 1994 when agricultural equipment distributor Jake Kloosterman Equipment Ltd. asked brothers Bill and Bert Menkveld to design an automatic tilt controller for potato harvesters. These harvesters must maintain a level position in hilly fields to provide better dirt separation with less product damage.
New partnership in hand, Bert Menkveld began to work on developing an automatic boom height controller for sprayers in 1995.
Designed around sonar sensors he had created previously, prototypes of the RH100 system were installed on various sprayers in Ontario for field testing.
However, owing to another commitment with Kloosterman Equipment, the Menkvelds had to put the boom height controller on hold. Instead, they used the time to develop a yield monitor for root crop harvesting equipment. This work led to a new product release in 1997.
Menkveld remembers being busy with production and sales during ‘98 and ‘99.
Yield mapping and data analysis, however, required fast computers, special software, and experienced professionals. All three were not always available at that time. As a result, early enthusiasm was followed by some years of much slower growth.
To keep the technology and further development alive, Greentronics offered a simplified version without GPS connectivity that worked very well as a conveyor- or in-line scale. It quickly became popular for users who wanted a better handle on filling loads, field totals and tracking inventory.
“In 2005, some potato growers from Manitoba asked Greentronics to develop an automatic boom height controller for their harvesters. That’s when we finally got back to working with sonar sensors,” said Menkveld. “The purpose of this device was to give operators an automated tool for maintaining proper drop height from the harvester boom into trucks and trailers. This accomplished two goals: first to reduce the potential for bruising; and second, to take away some of the operator’s workload.”
Menkveld said that by this time the technology for sonar sensors had advanced a great deal. There were many more options with much more attractive pricing. Prototype development and field testing continued through 2006 with what he deemed “good success.”
Although sales to potato growers were initially slow, Menkveld said that with this development work now complete, “Greentronics was able to turn its attention back to finish the last stages in development of its auto sprayer boom height control technology.”
Thanks to good field performance of prototypes during 2007-08, Greentronics was able to launch its 2-sensor RH200 RiteHeight product in 2009 into the Ontario market. The RH300 version soon followed in 2010 and allowed up to five sensors per system.
During 2014 and 2015, Greentronics worked hard to develop its own ISOBUS client implementation. This was first tested with the RH400 systems, and became a standard option with the introduction of the RH430 system in 2016, said Menkveld.
In 2016, new sonar sensors were implemented by Greentronics featuring longer range capacity and better durability.
“These sensors could be mounted in much smaller housings,” said Menkveld. “More importantly, the new sensors allowed for more advanced software programming. It became possible for operators to select from three modes: Bare Ground, Full Canopy, and Partial Canopy. These were all major improvements from the end-users’ point of view.”
“Back in 1996, it was clear that many sprayers in use by farmers would benefit from an auto boom height controller. Twenty-five years later, we still see many sprayers without auto boom height,” related Menkveld.
Auto boom height control increases the percentage of time that the spray nozzles are at the correct target height. This means reduced off target drifting, reduced waste, and better weed and pest control.
“While there are obvious financial advantages to reducing drift and waste, it’s even easier to think about dollars and cents when you consider that auto boom height control reduces the chance of the boom impacting with the ground or the crop. Even minor issues such as having to replace damaged nozzle tips and nozzle bodies after a small impact can easily run into hundreds of dollars of repair costs, downtime, and missed opportunities to get spray products applied at the correct moment,” explained Menkveld. “A solid impact can result in structural damage to the boom frame with very high repair costs.
While technical advancements sometimes get complicated, the folks at Greentronics are proud that its own precision ag products are actually easy to install and use. The auto boom system for example features just four main components:
- Console with display and small keypad;
- Junction Box;
- Sensors complete with housings and mounting hardware, and;
- Cable Harnesses for the sensors, communication, and power.
“An important aspect of RiteHeight, is that it is safe to use,” noted Menkveld. “It constantly monitors operator input and instantly suspends automatic mode when the operator manually moves a boom. When sensors are unable to measure distance accurately, the system stops moving booms until the operator intervenes manually. It will not operate blindly.”
Other products developed by Greentronics include: data management software that allows real-time yield data integration with displays from Trimble and John Deere; and a field-to-storage geo-tracking system for potato growers.
The geo-tracking system, said Menkveld, allows automatic generation of traceability information, allowing users to quickly check product in storage with field locations where the crop originated.
“We all know that there are a host of factors, including weather and soil conditions, that have an impact on crop quality in storage,” he explained. “By collecting detailed data, the system is able to turn traceability data into valuable agronomic data, complete with inventory and farm management reports.”
Known as RiteTrace, Greentronics first tested it at P&K Vander Zaag Farms in Alliston, Ontario during 2016. “P&K’s support, encouragement and feedback was absolutely key to further development steps”, noted Menkveld. Further work was completed during 2017, and by 2018, RiteTrace was being sold.
“There is growing interest in this product,” noted Menkveld, “especially with the on-going concerns about soil-borne and transmissible infestations. Also, if foreign materials such as glass or steel objects are discovered in stored potatoes, RiteTrace makes it much easier to trace this back to field origins.”
Meanwhile, the number of dealers for Greentronics products continues to grow, both in North America and in offshore markets.
The company has been very happy with how it has been perceived in the ag community.
Said Menkveld: “Despite Greentronics being very much unknown at the beginning, we have receive a great response to advertisements and internet presence. We have always offered and still offer a money-back guarantee. During the early days this helped to build trust and confidence. As customers and dealers got used to seeing us at tradeshows, in advertisements, mentions on forums, and by word-of-mouth, our dealer network and our sales grew steadily. For RiteHeight, our biggest markets continue to be the US mid-west and the western provinces of Canada. We are seeing growing interest and sales in some EU countries, in UK and Australia, a success due to Greentronics having solid products that fit the market well.
“Success is also directly connected with having experienced live tech support available to all our customers.”
Explaining what’s next for Greentronics, Menkveld said that the company has recently completed development of a system capable of using up to eight sonar sensors, introducing it in 2021. “Sprayer booms are becoming wider every year and there is a need for such systems,” he mentioned.
He noted that many sprayer operators—both self-propelled and pull type—seem to prefer using one touchscreen display to manage their sprayer functions. As a result, more and more RiteHeight sales include ISOBUS compatibility.
“In the near future, Greentronics will introduce a RiteHeight system without its own console,” summed up Menkveld. “The standard system will automatically rely on an ISOBUS connection to a native display. Where needed, we’ll provide an optional display. We believe that this direction will further simplify installation, reduce cab clutter, and enhance the user experience.”
For more information on Greentronics, visit https://greentronics.com/.
This article originally appeared in the March 2022 issue of the Precision Agriculture Digital Digest, a Farms.com publication. To subscribe to the digest, visit: https://secure.campaigner.com/CSB/Public/Form.aspx?fid=1812658&ac=gapc