Tested in pasture conditions, Overney Technologie’s solution achieved 96% effectiveness against dock and can treat up to one hectare in under two hours.

Docks (Rumex spp.) are a major headache for farmers, but a remedy may be at hand thanks to Overney Technologie. The company has developed a machine that can eliminate as many as 5,000 of these invasive weeds in the space of one hour, the same amount of time it would take to remove 60 by hand. Its high-tech solution consists of a tractor-mounted fork that identifies these nuisance plants using an AI-powered camera. It then deploys a welcome alternative to synthetic herbicides – electrocution – to kill them.

In 2021, mechanical engineer Edouard Overney, who grew up on a farm, chose the canton of Fribourg to set up the company that bears his name. The mission of the graduate of the School of Engineering and Architecture Fribourg (HEIA-FR) was to use the technological expertise that he had honed at companies like Rolls-Royce and Liebherr to devise solutions for the agricultural sector. With financial backing from the Fribourg Agri&Food program, Overney was able to pursue his innovative weeding fork idea. The next step was to find a manufacturing partner: “I was looking for a local company with adequate industrial capacity and strong product development expertise.” Zbinden Posieux quickly emerged as the obvious choice.

Regional value added

Philippe Zbinden, CEO of the family-owned company and leading automotive fitter and coachbuilder, recalls that accepting Edouard Overney’s proposal was a no-brainer: “Curiosity and innovation are integral to our philosophy. My grandfather, who founded the company 80 years ago, was an inventor and was always in his workshop, experimenting.” Before shifting to solutions for road transport vehicles, Zbinden Posieux was a specialist supplier of agricultural trailers. According to the CEO, “Our work with Overney Technologie allows us to reconnect with our agricultural roots and feed our interest in cutting-edge technologies.”

Edouard Overney benefits not only from his industrial partner’s production expertise but also from its extensive R&D experience. “The engineering department at Zbinden Posieux and I work in lockstep. The product would not be as good as it is without their input.” The engineer also stresses the important role that geographical proximity plays in the success of the partnership. In less than three years, the two companies have designed a prototype, finalized a market-ready model, and secured an initial order for five machines, which should be ready to ship by the end of 2026. Given the international interest that their high-tech weeding solution has already garnered, Overney Technologie and Zbinden Posieux are getting ready to shift into a higher gear.