04/09/2026
You might have seen this peculiar looking jeep out on the roads or even driving thru the fields here recently. It is set up with a John Deere display and receiver with RTK GPS. But why though?
RTK is sub 1” accuracy GPS and is repeatable year after year, vs the standard free signal that many tractors run called WAAS which gets you within 6-8” and is not repeatable, sometimes drifting left or right when you get out to fill the planter.
We are using this high accuracy GPS signal to map our fields that we spray for customers. Especially those with waterways which are very prevalent on many of our hill fields in the area to preserve soil and prevent erosion. So accidentally spraying and killing those is a very costly mistake for the growers we work with.
Our current John Deere sprayers are equipped with Exact Apply, which is nozzle by nozzle shutoffs every 15 inches, compared to a traditional sprayer with 5 to 15 ft. Section shutoffs. With these fields mapped out, our sprayers are able to take full advantage of Exact Apply and can shut off exactly at the edge of the field edge or waterway, as each nozzle gets there, saving those precious waterways.
This is just another way that MFA is partnering with the growers we work with to help them be good stewards of the land 🚜 🛰️ 🌽 🌾
