Nationally, the nursery industry contributes $4 billion to our economy, and Tennessee is well-known for producing trees and plants. University of Tennessee Extension has been involved in developing technology that improves how nurseries apply pesticides, reducing chemicals, and perhaps at the same time, increasing profits. Hello, I'm Charles Denny. This is AdCast, brought to you by the University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture.
There's new helpful technology for the nursery industry, applying pesticides in just the right amount, in just the right location. It's called an intelligent sprayer, and here's the sound of it in action. The sprayer emits a mist that is actually the pesticide application, carefully distributed in orchards and fields. For the Hale & Hines Nursery in McMinnville, where they grow 400 varieties of trees, James Hines says it improves the quality of their plants and reduces expenses.
Let's talk about the sprayer technology for you guys. Has that been helpful for you, a new way of applying? Hopefully you don't waste any pesticide, you just get the right amount. How has that been helpful for you?
We've cut pesticide usage by 40%, and I think we've got off-target losses immensely. Yeah, and have you seen it bottom line? Absolutely. Previously, we'd have to drive down our roadways and just blast the chemical in the general direction of the plant.
Now, with the intelligent sprayer technology, we're able to target the plant directly and have hardly any off-target loss. Yeah, yeah. And it saves the bees that we're not getting inadvertently. Intelligent Sprayer is an appropriate name.
This is no dumb machine. The sprayer uses lasers, sensors, and variable rate nozzles. Combined, they allow the machine to see a plant, its shape, and size, and then apply just the right amount of pesticide that's needed. As James Hines mentioned, Hale & Hines reduce pesticide usage nearly in half, and that's happening at other nurseries.
As orchards grow and trees become thicker, the sprayer technology can save operators more than $200 per acre in pesticide cost. David Lockwood with UT Extension works with fruit and nursery producers statewide, and is encouraged by what he sees from the intelligent sprayer. Yes, we have. There's been a reduction in actual pesticide usage, and depending on the stage of tree development, it'll run anywhere from 35% to up to 70% or more, depending, again, on stage of development of the tree and tree size.
In addition to reduction in total pesticide usage, we're seeing a reduction in pesticides getting onto the ground, which is a non-target zone, a significant reduction, like 50% or more reduction. Plant scientists with UT's Institute of Agriculture worked with the USDA Application Technology Research Unit, other universities, and a company called Smart Guided Systems to commercialize the sprayer. And nursery owners have been able to adapt existing equipment here. Amy Fulcher with UT Extension has been in on the design of the sprayer.
We then tested a prototype sprayer, which has been done in collaboration with James at Halen Hines as well as other nurseries in Tennessee. And now we're in phase two. We're looking at a very practical approach so that growers can have access to the technology without buying a brand new sprayer. We retrofit existing sprayers with the sensing system, and that's what we've tested here at Halen Hines the last year and have had excellent results.
Fulcher says not only does the correct amount go on the plant, but there's very little wasted pesticide, which is good for the ecosystem. Being more sustainable often translates not just into environmental benefits but to an economic advantage. It's eliminating waste. And so whenever the pesticide goes in the air behind the target crop on the ground, that's not helping anyone.
So we've been able to help make sure that the pesticide goes right on the target crop. UTIA is documenting how the sprayers impact the environment around plants. The Institute's Biosystems Engineering and Soil Science Department also helped with the testing of this new system. Intelligent sprayers are being used also at nurseries in Ohio and Oregon.
It took a decade of research to come up with the intelligent sprayer, and spring 2019 is the first time we've seen widespread use. UTIA will continue to work with nurseries here. Precision equates to efficiency. Thanks for listening.
I'm Charles Denny. For more real-life solutions provided by the UT Institute of Agriculture, go to our website at ag.tennessee.edu.