WERIT, Frontier Agriculture and Wisdom Systems partner to reduce operator exposure, product losses and packaging waste through safer, more efficient crop protection transfer

Frontier Agriculture, the UK’s leading crop production and grain marketing business, Wisdom Systems, an agricultural engineering division of Eziserv Limited and industrial packaging manufacturer WERIT are combining their expertise in agriculture, transfer systems and packaging to reduce operators’ exposure to concentrated crop protection products. The collaboration also reduces filling time, product losses, manual handling and packaging waste.

 Closed transfer systems (CTS) help UK farmers load sprayers up to 40% faster while dramatically reducing chemical exposure, product waste and empty packaging.

 Modern crop sprayers are satellite-guided, computer-controlled machines operated by highly skilled, licensed operators. On larger farms, sprayers can cost up to £500,000 and are used throughout much of the growing season to protect crop yield and quality. Yet filling them has remained remarkably conventional.

 Traditional filling can involve repeatedly lifting containers of up to 20 litres, removing caps and seals, and manually pouring concentrated chemicals into an induction hopper. A filled 20-litre container can weigh up to 28 kg, increasing manual-handling demands and the risk of operator exposure, spills, and surface-water contamination.

 But now, Frontier Agriculture is working with Wisdom Systems and WERIT to transfer crop protection and nutrition products directly from reusable Intermediate Bulk Containers (IBCs) into the sprayer via a closed system, delivering around 98% less exposure and contamination risk than conventional open pouring.

The Challenge: Reducing exposure, waste and downtime

 For sprayer operators, filling is an occupational health, productivity and cost issue. Richard Garnett, Agricultural Engineer and Owner of Wisdom Systems, says removing the cap from a conventional container is one of the biggest exposure risks and a barrier to efficient operation.

 “The risks peak when the operator unscrews a conventional cap from the container, pours product into the induction hopper and rinses the container,” says Richard. “This step accounts for around 98% of the total exposure that might occur to the operator and the filling site.”

 Spilt concentrate can contaminate equipment and surrounding surfaces and may reach drains and watercourses. Traditional IBCs can also retain significant quantities of product. Garnett says residues of 15-20 litres are not uncommon. At an illustrative product value of £100 per litre, this equates to £1,500-£2,000 of product remaining in a single container, plus additional cleaning and refurbishment costs.

 “Farmers are very keen to adopt new technologies that increase efficiency while applying products to their crops. Minimising risks and increasing output is key,” says Nick Badger, Product Manager for CTS at Frontier Agriculture. “These new IBCs with closed transfer technology give operators a faster, cleaner and safer way to load the sprayer, with less physical stress and reduced financial and environmental impact.”

Frontier has progressed from a single product in a 1000L IBC to more than 20 products spanning crop protection and crop nutrition, reflecting growing demand for an alternative to conventional open transfer.

The Solution: Engineering out the open transfer

 The solution combines Frontier's understanding of farmers and agricultural operations, Wisdom Systems' transfer technology and WERIT's advanced IBC engineering. CTS use the vacuum already generated by the crop sprayer to draw product directly from the IBC through a closed connection. An electronic flow meter, accurate to 0.5%, measures the required volume, while transfer rates can reach 35 litres per minute.

 The aim is to load the chemical while the sprayer is filling with water. Achieving that requires the container, valve and transfer equipment to work as one system, rather than simply attaching transfer equipment to a standard IBC.

 “Every minute the sprayer is stationary while somebody empties and washes containers is time when it isn’t working productively over the crop,” says Richard. “The timeliness of applications in restricted application windows is also improved.”

 Wisdom Systems required an IBC without a conventional bottom outlet and with an additional top opening to accommodate a Micromatic valve. WERIT adapted its 600-litre IBC accordingly, incorporating a channel in the base that directs liquid to a recessed collection point beneath the Micromatic valve. This enables more of the product to be drawn from the container via the closed transfer system, reducing residual contents to less than one litre.

 “The key requirement was a container specifically configured for this application, rather than trying to make a standard IBC fit the process,” says Jason Waywell, National Sales Manager at WERIT UK. “By working closely with Frontier and Wisdom Systems, we have provided IBC formats that integrate with closed transfer technology and give farmers practical choices of container capacity.”

 Richard says WERIT’s flexibility was critical: “None of the other IBC manufacturers we approached were interested in what was then a relatively niche requirement. WERIT gave us the flexibility and support to develop the container around the needs of the agrochemical market.”

 Frontier now uses both 300L and 600L IBCs. WERIT's 300-litre Compactline broadens options for farms that do not need a conventional 1,000-litre IBC and can also help businesses manage product purchasing and cash flow, while making containers easier to use on bowsers and transport between mixing sites.

Results: Recovering product and increasing sprayer productivity

 Operator feedback from Wisdom Systems and Frontier customers indicates sprayer productivity improvements of between 20% and 40%. For farms operating high-value machinery within limited application windows, reducing filling downtime means more time with the sprayer working over the crop.

 Product recovery provides another measurable saving. Through WERIT's cooperation with Wisdom Systems, the IBC profile and transfer arrangement have reduced residual contents from 15 to 20 litres to around 100 to 200 millilitres. On a busy spraying day, saving even 20 minutes on each fill can translate into several additional hectares treated during narrow weather windows.

 Packaging costs and waste are reduced too. Frontier says an IBC uses approximately half as much plastic per litre delivered as smaller containers. Suitable IBCs are collected, checked, and refilled, and can remain in a sustainable return-and-refill system for around five years. Farmers also have fewer empty small containers to handle and pay for waste collection.

 Information accumulated by Wisdom Systems over 35 years demonstrates that using the same format of reusable containers and Micro-Matic connections across multiple products and markets can deliver maximum safety and efficiency without cross-contamination.

 And this technology is now gaining ground. Richard Garnett estimates CTS equipment is now operating on approximately 10% of UK crop sprayers. Its productivity and environmental value are also recognised through public funding. Under England’s 2026 Farming Equipment and Technology Fund, qualifying closed transfer systems for sprayers handling containers over 20 litres were eligible for a 50% cost contribution.

 For Frontier, the benefit is the combination of improvements: “This isn’t simply about replacing small cans with a larger container. It is about looking at the whole operation: making filling faster and easier, reducing manual handling and packaging, and providing a safer way for operators to work,” says Nick Badger.

 For farmers under pressure to improve margins, CTS addresses several costs at once: operator exposure, filling downtime, residual product, manual handling and packaging disposal. For WERIT, Frontier and Wisdom Systems, the collaboration highlights how packaging can be integrated into the farm’s productivity, safety and resource-efficiency strategy.