Innovation in the Field: The ARA Sprayer and Its Game-Changing Technology

In this episode of the North American Ag Spotlight podcast, Chrissy Wozniak welcomes back Jose Marchetti, an agronomy engineer and Business Development leader for Ecorobotix. With a rich background in agriculture across Argentina, Brazil, and the United States, Jose shares his expertise on advancing precision agriculture. The discussion centers around the ARA ultra-high-precision sprayer, a game-changing tool that reduces input costs, minimizes spray drift, and enhances crop health. Jose explains how the sprayer's advanced plant-by-plant technology distinguishes crops from weeds with remarkable accuracy, applying treatments only where needed.

Listeners will learn how the ARA sprayer has helped farmers achieve up to 95% savings in crop protection products while reducing manual labor costs significantly. Jose also highlights its impact on addressing regulatory compliance, improving worker safety, and boosting productivity in windy conditions. Real-world success stories from producers using the technology underline its potential to revolutionize modern farming. Jose’s deep passion for agriculture and his commitment to supporting farmers’ profitability shines throughout the conversation, making this an inspiring listen for anyone interested in ag tech.

Learn more about https://ecorobotix.com
#agtech #precisionag #agriculture

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Transcript

00:00:06:08 - 00:00:32:11
Chrissy Wozniak
Hi, and welcome to North American Spotlight. I'm Chrissy Wozniak. Our returning guest today brings a deep background in agronomy and agribusiness with hands on experience in crop production across Argentina, Brazil and the US. He's passionate about tackling some of the biggest challenges that face modern agriculture today, and he's been key to bringing a new level of precision and efficiency to crop care.

00:00:32:13 - 00:00:54:22
Chrissy Wozniak
Leading Echo Robotics is business development across the Americas. He's working to promote the era of high ultra high Precision sprayer, a groundbreaking tool that reduces drift, conserves resources, and boosts crop health. So we're excited to welcome Jose Marchetti back to the show. Welcome, Jose, and thank you so much for your time today.

00:00:54:24 - 00:00:58:15
Jose Marchetti
Hi, Chrissy. Thank you very much. It's pleasure.

00:00:58:17 - 00:01:09:15
Chrissy Wozniak
So what inspired this focus on robotic technology for agriculture? And then how did that lead to the development of the arrow sprayer?

00:01:09:17 - 00:01:43:23
Jose Marchetti
So basically the companies founders, really thought about, bringing technologies that can help farmers, reduce their impact on the environment while, increasing their results. And that is why they developed this idea of, building a machine that can, plant by plant, do the ultra high precision weeding that we talk about, and, of course, crop protection treatments to.

00:01:43:24 - 00:01:56:07
Jose Marchetti
So it's a very flexible, versatile machine that can be used both for weeding and crop care treatments very, very precisely.

00:01:56:09 - 00:02:04:23
Chrissy Wozniak
Yeah. That's amazing. So can you walk us through how this sprayer operates in the field and then what sets it apart from traditional sprayers?

00:02:05:00 - 00:02:35:05
Jose Marchetti
Sure. Well, this is, 20ft with, and, with machine with, lots of nozzles very close by, one and half inches from each other. It has 156 nozzles in those 20ft. And, while we were running on the field at, very decent speed of 4.5mph, we are identifying every plant that's on the field, differentiating what is the crop, what is the weed.

00:02:35:07 - 00:02:41:00
Jose Marchetti
And depending on what the farmer wants to do, we spray one or the other.

00:02:41:02 - 00:02:52:15
Chrissy Wozniak
Yeah. That's amazing. Can you spray one or the other in the same pass or is it two passes like fertilizer one one pass and spray and, you know, herbicide on the other.

00:02:52:17 - 00:03:15:16
Jose Marchetti
Yeah, that's a very good question. No, we kind of spray, one or the other. It means that the machine has, only one mixture tank where you can. But, the product or the combination of products that you want to use, but it's one or the other, you mean.

00:03:15:17 - 00:03:16:02
Chrissy Wozniak
Right.

00:03:16:08 - 00:03:21:12
Jose Marchetti
You kind of do two, different applications at the same bus.

00:03:21:14 - 00:03:39:02
Chrissy Wozniak
Right? Yeah. Yeah. That's what what I was thinking and it's really it's just it's a game changer, right? Being able to target that small to the exact plant and give it exactly what it needs or, or whether it needs to, whether it needs to die. So it's just it's so, so cool.

00:03:39:04 - 00:04:12:07
Jose Marchetti
Yes, definitely. It's, impressive when you see the machine on the fields, how precise we are. We have a pixel of application or spraying that these 2.4, and square inches. So it's really small. And, that way, you get to really spray only, what you need to spray. Saving a lot of feet of sanitary products, up to 95%, depending on the stage of the crop and, the weed infestation of the field.

00:04:12:09 - 00:04:45:07
Jose Marchetti
But also, thanks to this technology, you are able to avoid spraying the crop with some selective herbicides. That brings, many times, some, delay in the growth of the, of the, of the crop that it's called phyto toxicity. And, it doesn't kill the crop, but it slows down the rate of growth by allowing the, in spraying the crop with these, normal selective herbicides that are used in the fields, the crops grow healthier.

00:04:45:09 - 00:05:31:17
Jose Marchetti
And, most likely are going to yield better. And this, increasing yield is, depends on many factors, but it can varies from an extra 3% to, maybe an extra 15%. And, that is a big difference. When, when it's time of, of harvest. Right. And the third big benefit that we bring to the field is that, thanks to these very precise, weeding applications, we, can enter into the into the field, into the crop at certain stages and with certain specific, herbicides.

00:05:31:19 - 00:06:10:05
Jose Marchetti
Very precisely, and control weeds much better. And that is allowing the farmers to reduce cost on whatever manual labor they have. So. And manual labor is a big driver of our sales, because if you can reduce the manual labor by 20, 30, 40, 50%, you are already saving a lot of money. And, if you add to that, the reduction on the feed to sanitary produced and a little bit of extra yield, the return on the investment is just, impressive, right?

00:06:10:05 - 00:06:40:12
Chrissy Wozniak
And that's so important. You know, I know you attend and so do I. A lot of the ag tech conferences and I cover Agtech a lot. And I see so many really cool technologies emerging. But if if it doesn't help the farmer profit, then it's really kind of useless, right? It has to get to that point. And and with our sprayer, it, it is obvious how much that the, the return on investment for, for this sprayer is, is really overwhelming.

00:06:40:12 - 00:06:41:06
Chrissy Wozniak
Right.

00:06:41:08 - 00:07:09:20
Jose Marchetti
Yeah, absolutely. And this is the result that we are having, on every, you know, with every field that we are spraying, we are getting feedback from the farmers. Very happy saving a lot of money. And remember, the company was founded about by farmers here in Switzerland with this idea of helping both the environment, but mostly the farmers in being more profitable.

00:07:09:20 - 00:07:23:00
Jose Marchetti
So we are really happy to, be in this situation, kind of ideal of taking care of the environment, but also helping, significantly the farmers. Right?

00:07:23:02 - 00:07:49:01
Chrissy Wozniak
Right. Yes. And spray drift is also a major concern for so many reasons. From, you know, input cost to environmental concerns, of course. So what impact does reducing spray drift by 95%, which is phenomenal. On on a on the farms operation. And then also compliance with regulatory regulatory standards which are increasingly more difficult. Right.

00:07:49:05 - 00:08:21:07
Jose Marchetti
Oh yes. Definitely. Yeah. The design that the machine has is with covers all around, in every on every side, in front, in the back and on the sides. And that is helping really reduce the drift by up to 95% with certifications, very strict certifications, actually, that we have made, with German authorities and, and Netherlands, I mean, the Netherlands and well, that helps the operations, in many senses.

00:08:21:07 - 00:08:48:16
Jose Marchetti
One of them, of course, is human safety because avoiding drift, you protect the people working on the fields. And many times when you work with vegetables, you have crews working in one field and next to it you need to spray. So these reduction in drift is protecting those people. And this is related to what just what you just mentioned about and the legal requirements that farmers are always needing to comply with.

00:08:48:18 - 00:09:24:07
Jose Marchetti
But also then there is one productivity factor that we are helping, and it is because of those covers on the sides that we don't have drift and we can handle, very strong winds. It's not that you can always, keep, spraying with, with any amount of wind, of course, but we can handle, winds that normal sprayers, won't be able to, that is increasing the productivity that we have.

00:09:24:09 - 00:09:56:08
Jose Marchetti
And again, we have a small machine of 20ft, with but, going at 4.5mph. So it's slower and less productive than a normal broadcast sprayer. But this factor of the reduction and the drift, making us, being able to handle strongest winds is getting an extra productivity for these, small but very efficient machine.

00:09:56:10 - 00:10:20:16
Chrissy Wozniak
Yes. Yes, definitely. And that that time saved during windy days, moderately windy days is is definitely adds up. So can you you touched on this before. Can you explain the plant by plant technology and, and and how it identifies specific areas to target during spray so that that kind of technology behind it.

00:10:20:18 - 00:10:55:19
Jose Marchetti
Sure. So as I mentioned, the machine is six feet wide and underneath the the machine, we have six computers each of the computers, carrying a set of cameras. And those cameras on the go on the field as it, is running, as the machine is running on the field, those, cameras are taking pictures. The computers are processing the images and then delivering the detailed plan by plan.

00:10:55:24 - 00:11:28:24
Jose Marchetti
The identification, then based on what the farmer wants to do, the machine is going to spray either the crop to do a crop protection treatment with a puncture site, for example, or the weeds to the, very precise, weeding treatment. So this is basically the plan by plant. We take the pictures, process the images, identify, differentiate and open the right nozzle to spray a very small target.

00:11:29:01 - 00:11:32:21
Chrissy Wozniak
Yeah. And in, in a fraction of a second. Right. Which is amazing.

00:11:32:23 - 00:11:37:08
Jose Marchetti
One fourth of a second. Everything happens in one fourth of a second.

00:11:37:10 - 00:11:49:14
Chrissy Wozniak
Yeah. That it's just so incredible. So are there specific crop types or regions where you've seen it perform exceptionally well and what crops are you targeting?

00:11:49:16 - 00:12:24:14
Jose Marchetti
So basically we are, targeting high value crops or vegetables. We have different crop algorithms from which, one of the most used and most important are onions, letters, spinach. Now, we are, very soon going to, also have carrots, as a commercial algorithm. And, and then we have a group of what we call generally stick algorithms, like all green or target size, and role algorithm.

00:12:24:16 - 00:12:57:21
Jose Marchetti
Those algorithms by themselves or combined can be used in any crop. It's a bit complicated here at the both sides to to explain because it's such a versatile machine that can do a lot of things. So but but yes, those, algorithms of of specific crops or general algorithms can help you, go into the field in, in the most important and relevant crops that are planted, worldwide.

00:12:57:23 - 00:13:12:02
Jose Marchetti
And, in the US, all the West Coast, of course, with all the lettuce and other leafy greens, plus onions, is kind of our main market at the moment.

00:13:12:04 - 00:13:28:01
Chrissy Wozniak
Right? Yeah. Amazing. So how do you see eco robotics fitting into the big picture of precision agriculture as more farmers adopt the the data driven practices going forward?

00:13:28:03 - 00:14:09:08
Jose Marchetti
So we have, ambitious plans to keep growing and at the company, of course, we are, improving everything related to our operating software and crop algorithms, but also exploring other alternatives that can help us penetrate more the high value, crops market and vegetable market. And then, yes, we are we are developing different, options to get more and more market share.

00:14:09:10 - 00:14:34:00
Jose Marchetti
But we are conscious that, our main market is all around high value crops and, high precision. And. Yeah, I mean, we are going to keep growing and, there's, some new that eventually we, we will share with everyone. So, yeah, I mean, it's a very exciting future.

00:14:34:02 - 00:14:50:11
Chrissy Wozniak
Yes, yes, I agree. And, Echo Robotics was recently listed by the the, Dutch Dirty List and certified by Germany's Julius Kroon Institute. So why is this international recognition so significant?

00:14:50:13 - 00:15:22:24
Jose Marchetti
Well, those institutions are really, especially here in Europe, certifying and controlling their quality and, everything related to what the machine promise and really can deliver. So for us being certified by this, very important institutions is, helping us, make the world understand that we do things in the most serious way to really, deliver what we promise.

00:15:23:01 - 00:15:34:22
Jose Marchetti
And, they help us improve many times in internal processes or, materials that we need to use, in every aspect.

00:15:34:24 - 00:15:45:15
Chrissy Wozniak
Yeah. And and do you have any stories or feedback from producers who've started using this technology in their operations?

00:15:45:17 - 00:16:19:08
Jose Marchetti
Oh, absolutely. One of the things that I, spoke at, the last few at show in California, in Sacramento was about this, first feedbacks from, from the users that been last season spring with in the fields and the results were amazing. So one very important, important note, 35% of the companies that both year and around last year in the US are buying a second or a couple more.

00:16:19:10 - 00:16:53:24
Jose Marchetti
So that's really one of the most important, feedbacks to, to, to to show you how happy our customers are, is that 35% are buying a second unit, or even more than to there's a company that bought one to try and now they bought for. So this is really, encouraging for us to keep working well, but mainly the, the benefits they, getting are related to those three main points that I mentioned at the beginning.

00:16:54:01 - 00:17:25:04
Jose Marchetti
First, reduction of manual labor from -20 to sometimes not needing manual labor on the field. Imagine how much money they saved. Only on that. The second feedback that we get is that they are getting the best onion fields ever. You know they are farmers, so they are not doing a scientific, plot, but they are giving us this feedback of having the best onion fields.

00:17:25:06 - 00:17:51:07
Jose Marchetti
Ever and, related to, product savings. They are talking about 40 to 70% of savings in the sanitary products. So again, if a farmer is listening to this, show and I'm sure most of them are farmers, you can easily do some math in your head about how fast the return on the investment is for these, new technology.

00:17:51:09 - 00:18:31:12
Jose Marchetti
And, honestly, it's worth to mention that the the founders of this company, really care about having the farmers, you know, get better results. And that's why we also have a pretty interesting business model with an affordable price at the beginning, when they have to purchase the machine, and then a very reasonable yearly licensing model that allows them be always at the latest of the technology, no matter when they bought the machine.

00:18:31:14 - 00:18:41:17
Jose Marchetti
And for us is, what gives us the, the resources to keep improving the algorithms and, and the machine both.

00:18:41:19 - 00:18:59:02
Chrissy Wozniak
Excellent, excellent. And so for producers who are kind of on on the line, they, they are interested in agtech, they're, they're starting to to open up to Precision Egg. What advice would you have for them as they start this journey.

00:18:59:04 - 00:19:24:20
Jose Marchetti
Well, they need to try it on the fields, on the on their fields and talk to other farmers. I mean, for me, nothing is better than one of our customers, telling his story of how, things went, when they tried our technology. So, reach out to other farmers using the technology, ask them the good, the bad, the problems.

00:19:24:24 - 00:19:48:15
Jose Marchetti
We we are a new company. With the new technology. We are always having to resolve a new problem. So we are not afraid of sometimes having to, innovate a little bit more to get to, to a better result. There's many times that, there's, there's something new and we need to adapt what we have. And this is the spirit in the company.

00:19:48:15 - 00:20:19:04
Jose Marchetti
You know, it's, we know that, we are going to constantly improve the machine, the algorithms. So, yeah, farmers first thing first is to reach out to other farmers using the technology, ask them the good, the bad. And, and they will. They will, I'm sure because farmers are smart. Then anybody can think and, they can do the math very quickly in their heads.

00:20:19:04 - 00:20:31:20
Jose Marchetti
It's it's amazing how quickly any farmer can do the math of of the benefit. And, and yeah, the this is yeah, maybe the most important thing.

00:20:31:22 - 00:20:38:06
Chrissy Wozniak
Right. Yeah. I agree. And and so where can people find out more?

00:20:38:08 - 00:20:39:22
Jose Marchetti
Sorry.

00:20:39:24 - 00:20:43:12
Chrissy Wozniak
Where can people find out more to learn more?

00:20:43:14 - 00:21:12:24
Jose Marchetti
Well, we are always open to explain and give every detail around, the technology and the benefits we bring. So getting in contact with us. Absolutely. Is, is a good source, of knowledge for them. And we are always open and happy to, to answer questions, emails. You can get, into our website.

00:21:12:24 - 00:21:35:11
Jose Marchetti
We have, lots of tutorials in YouTube. We have a YouTube channel full of videos and tutorials and, of course, my email numbers are everything is pretty public. So everybody can reach out to us through social media. We will be happy to, to share our knowledge.

00:21:35:13 - 00:21:46:24
Chrissy Wozniak
Perfect. And I'll make sure that all of those links are provided in the show notes as well. And so I have one last question for you. Why do you serve this industry and what's your greatest passion and all of it.

00:21:47:01 - 00:22:29:09
Jose Marchetti
So, my background is as a farmer, I come from a family that's farms, fortunately, some farmers in Argentina. And, I think agriculture is one of the, if not the most, representative, industry that, puts the human being in front of nature challenging every aspect of our humanity. So my passion is to see, how demand can work together with nature to satisfy their daily needs.

00:22:29:09 - 00:23:05:04
Jose Marchetti
We are not so conscious as a society of all the things that we have. Thanks to the farmers. Statistically speaking, worldwide, farmers nowadays are more or less 2% of the population. So there's more and more people that don't really stop one second to think how they have their fruits, full of of, of of food, you know, and everything is kind of.

00:23:05:04 - 00:23:41:20
Jose Marchetti
So we see in the supermarket to, to get but that was not nature only a hundred years ago. So, yeah, I think this is the passion that comes with agriculture to, to put the, the, you know, the human being in front of nature work together to feed their families and society and I'm really glad that, with acrobatics, we can do this big impact in improving the sustainability of our farmlands worldwide.

00:23:41:22 - 00:23:49:24
Jose Marchetti
While being, of course, farmers are the ones, having to struggle with so many fights.

00:23:50:01 - 00:23:58:06
Chrissy Wozniak
Yes, that was so nicely put. Thank you for that. And thank you so much for joining me today. Great conversation.

00:23:58:08 - 00:24:01:00
Jose Marchetti
Thank you. Chris, it's a pleasure, as always.

00:24:01:02 - 00:24:18:06
Chrissy Wozniak
And thanks so much. To all who are watching or listening, if you want to learn more. As I said, the links are all provided in the show notes. Don't forget to subscribe to North American Egg Spotlight on Rumble, telegram, Spotify, Apple Stitcher, Amazon, wherever you listen to podcasts. And if you like the episode, I would love it if you shared it.

00:24:18:08 - 00:24:19:01
Chrissy Wozniak
Have a great day!