Snyder crop services

My name is Ed Snyder from Snyder crop services. We specialise in crop protection application, fertilizer application and we also sell Liquid and dry fertilizer plus provide a crop consultancy service too.

I have had my eyes on European sprayers for a number of years, after seeing the functionality and capabilities that they have. Unfortunately, that is not available in North America. It seems that European machines are more technologically advanced then the machines used over here. We had the opportunity to see the machine first hand at the Agritechnica exhibition in Germany.
I was really impressed: a lot of the functionalities that Agrifac offer is standard on their equipment, if we ever wanted that here, we would need to request it as an additional option.

We looked at several European brands and we compared them all, but what set Agrifac apart from the rest was their approach. Dealing directly with the end-user was really impressive for me. They’re “Brilliant Simple”, and their technology and manufacturing that goes into their machines really proves that. Every decision or change that they make complies with the standards we need to meet and it really makes it is a really nice machine.

The highlights of the Condor from my perspective are the circulations system and the individual nozzle section control. The size also impressed me. Agrifac is able to offer a large capacity sprayer in a smaller machine than what we are used to in North America which is really useful in terms of operations and minimal ground impact too.

There is a lot about Agrifac that resonates with me when I compare how they work with my job as applying chemicals or fertilizer. I like the direction that Agrifac is going. I like the projects that Agrifac as a company are involved in. They are quite a few years ahead of the competition when it comes to precision agriculture and it is not only electronics or GPS related. They have cracked the technology which allows growers to benefit from precise application. All their solutions are “Brilliant Simple”. As they move forward with their new ideas and projects, I can be confident that whatever solutions they will bring to the machine, it will work well.

The StabiloPlus stands out; it handles all kinds of tracks. It keeps the tyres on the ground at all times. By using the very easy
track width adjustment we are still able to drive over 4 rows of 30 inch corn in the field. The short wheel base in combination with the four wheel steering makes it perfect for us. Travelling on the road is really nice. The Condor is the fastest machine in our company and quite narrow and light compared to North American machines.

What I see as a big advantage of the ClearancePlus is that we are able to have the high clearance when we really need it. Down the road and during spring we just have a conventional sprayer. It adds so much versatility to our business. We now have a longer spraying season.

The EcoTronicPlus is very visual which makes it really easy to use the machine. It helps you to operate the machine quickly. In one glance you will see whether all valves are in the right position. And if you want to go in-depth you can find out more information.

We have a 70/100/130 ft J-Boom, it has several folding widths, which makes the machine even more flexible, we always have
a large boom size. We have a 15 inch nozzle spacing. We choose this because we grown our corn in on 30 inch rows, so we have a nozzle in between each row for side dressing of the crop. Next to this we have 103 individual nozzle sections. Therefore we can reduce application overlap to a minimum.

The circulation system is also new here in North America. We are able to start right on with spraying, it helps us to save
chemicals and it is really easy cleanout as well, which is a huge benefit and very convenient for us because we have a lot of small fields and use different mixes. We don’t have boom ends and valves, so the circulation system helps with that.

With the regulation valve of Agrifac you are always staying at the perfect rate, you can go from 103 nozzles down to a couple and they are still spraying fine with the right application rate. The machine is able to change in little to no time at all which is fantastic.

The HighTechAirPlus really helps control the droplet size. For different chemicals and different weather we can control the droplet size easily. We don’t have to worry about the coverage of the crop, the computer will also add the right amount of air.

The fuel economy is amazing, it is really efficient compared to other North American machines.

A bunch of parts came with the machine, I actually think that I didn’t need anything that wasn’t sent along. There are still a lot of parts leftover. The service is incredible, talking to the service people of Agrifac, we almost didn’t notice that they were dealing with us in another country and not over here! Also dealing with the time difference wasn’t an issue at all.

Agrifac have also been over here a couple of times to check out the machine and listen to our experience so far. It really feels like Agrifac listens to their customers, and ask them what they want to do. They come with solutions that are different and innovative, they want to come with solutions that cover the issues and not just patch or a bandaid them for the moment. The product itself is really good, but the people of Agrifac are that much better.