Ball Seed and TTA partner for sticking machine

Jun 13, 2024
New sticking machine saves on greenhouse labor

Ball Seed announced a distribution partnership with technology provider TTA to launch the company’s new CuttingEdge automated sticking machine for planting rooted and unrooted cuttings to the North American market. Engineered for accuracy and increased productivity, CuttingEdge brings a new level of precision to greenhouse production.

“Growers are feeling the pressure of labor costs, and we are working with our customers on ways to make better use of their labor by understanding what is the right volume of unrooted cuttings that makes automation a solution,” said Jim Kennedy, sales director of Ball Seed. “TTA’s latest technology is another step in their commitment to greenhouse production automation, and Ball Seed is motivated to connect our customers with the types of solutions that meet their operation needs.”

The CuttingEdge includes:

An in-feed chain conveyor for plug trays
TTA’s CuttingVision system for evaluating cuttings
A robotic arm for planting approved cuttings

The system requires minimal data to create a robust cutting-detection model with unmatched flexibility based on AI and deep learning. According to TTA, one CuttingEdge machine can stick at least 2,500 cuttings per hour.

“TTA is committed to bringing the process of automatic sticking to the highest possible level in cooperation with horticultural leaders,” said Peter Rietveld, chief business development officer at TTA. “Our partnership with Ball Seed is valuable to us. It will bring this technology to a wider audience, improve the sticking process, and save time and labor costs throughout the industry.”

To further showcase this robust technology, live demonstrations of CuttingEdge will be available to attendees in Columbus, Ohio, at Cultivate’24 (Booth TTA #447), July 13-16; and it will be a featured machine demonstration at the Ball Seed Customer Days event, July 25-26, in West Chicago, Illinois.