Fawn-saving sensor tech now cuts orchard spraying by up to 80%

A retrofit sensor system that promises to cut crop protection chemical use by 70 to 80 per cent and spray drift by more than 80 per cent grew out of technology designed to save baby deer from mowers. That is the backstory of Spray Logics, an Italian-Austrian company previously trading as Optronia, which showed its orchard and vineyard kit at FIRA USA 2026 on a Blueline Accutech sprayer.

The system costs €18,000 to €20,000 ($20,150-$22,400) for the demonstrated configuration: three sensor modules per side plus valves for individual nozzle control. That price point puts precision spraying within reach of growers who don't want to replace an entire sprayer.

How did fawn detection become weed detection?

Spray Logics started with the Sensosafe system, an automated animal recognition setup that used optical infrared sensors to detect fawns (young deer) hiding in grassland before mowing for roughage production. The company developed it in collaboration with Austrian machinery manufacturer Pöttinger.

The same optical principle — near-infrared (NIR) light reflecting differently off living plant tissue than off soil or other backgrounds — then moved from grassland to crop protection. Spray Logics adapted it into a retrofit solution for field sprayers covering two scenarios:

• Green-on-brown: weed detection and spot spraying on fallow ground, where living weeds stand out against bare soil.
• Green-on-green: weed detection within growing field crops, where the sensor must distinguish crop from weed.

The company currently cooperates with Australian sprayer manufacturer Goldacres, which has integrated the technology into its Weedetect-NIR system for green-on-brown weed detection.

What does the orchard and vineyard version do?

At FIRA USA 2026, Spray Logics demonstrated the same sensor technology applied to permanent crops, as the company explained to Future Farming. The showcased setup mounted three sensor modules on each front side of the Blueline Accutech sprayer, with positions that can be varied to accommodate different tree sizes, tree types and fruit crops.

Each module stands 50 centimetres high and contains:

• Eight NIR transponders
• Three wavelengths
• 32 receptors

The sensors scan for tree trunks, leaves, flowers and fruits, as well as poles and other orchard structures. Combined with individual nozzle control on the sprayer, this allows precision spraying on trees, canopy, flowers and fruits. Crucially, it also prevents nozzles from activating where there are no trees — the gaps, headlands and missing plants where conventional sprayers waste product.

The result, according to the company, is significant savings on crop protection costs and a sharp reduction in spray drift. Exact savings depend on the use case, but Spray Logics claims the 70 to 80 per cent chemical reduction and the 80-plus per cent drift reduction figures.

Why does it work without algorithms?

Unlike camera-based systems that rely on image processing and trained algorithms, the Spray Logics solution exploits natural variation in how plants reflect NIR light — chlorophyll content being a key differentiator. The sensors detect that variation directly. No image processing, no algorithms, no model training required.

That simplicity has a practical edge. It means the system functions out of the box across different crops and conditions, without needing datasets for each new orchard or field scenario. It also explains why one hardware platform could migrate from spotting fawns in grassland to distinguishing weeds from crop plants to profiling tree canopies.

For growers weighing the investment, the €18,000-€20,000 retrofit price sits against potential chemical savings of up to 80 per cent, plus drift reduction that matters increasingly for buffer-zone compliance and neighbour relations in intensive orchard and vineyard districts.

Growers and contractors should watch for further integration partnerships following the Goldacres model, and for wider availability of the orchard and vineyard retrofit beyond the FIRA showcase configuration.