Company History

Our Story

Application Insight was founded in March of 2011, with the broad goal of improving pesticide application methods. Our founder, Mark Ledebuhr, left the prior spraying technology company he co-founded, realizing that what was holding back true advancement in agricultural spray application was not a lack of great application technology, it was gaps in objective science and sound regulation to meaningfully measure and compare spray applications. Despite hundreds, perhaps thousands, of papers comparing sprayers and sprays in literature, there has yet to evolve a scientific way to evaluate and rank a sprayer so that an applicator might reasonably and scientifically predict it's performance, or gauge the risk and rewards for using a particular sprayer in a particular scenario. Pesticide application is one of the most regulated activities on the planet, and we all rely on it. Spraying was, and is, still largely a "spray and pray" scenario when it comes to hardware selection and individual applicators. However, we know we can achieve better outcomes with better processes, tools and understanding! 

In order to work on these issues with credibility, Ledebuhr needed to come at problems from a neutral position. Being a manufacturer of a specific technology brings too much bias to the table. He left his position as president of Ledebuhr Industries, a Michigan State University technology spin-off company and the developer and manufacturer of Proptectm rotary atomizers and Accu-staltictm multiple channel metering pumps, sold his stock, and founded Application Insight. This new company would create the space and freedom to work on bigger issues of spray hardware efficacy industry-wide that would never be possible to work on within the confines of a manufacturing company.

True to the original vision, Application Insight focuses on the design and evaluation of spray application systems, moving to improve the hardware of pesticide applications. Our clientele are increasingly diverse. We are a mix of fee-for-service research and development projects, US and foreign grant-based projects, and service retainers, depending on the needs of the project. Examples range throughout this site, with activities from development of analytical methodologies and apparatus, classical drift and deposition studies, seminars and training, specific hardware development and optimization. Along the way we've designed some unique teaching tools too, that are designed to showcase, not compete with, existing spray technologies.