The Label Summary Sheet Proposal

We’ve identified and discussed shortcomings in the content and design of today’s pesticide labels in an earlier article. From the perspective of the spray applicator, the information needed most often can be difficult to locate, anachronistic, contradictory, subjective or even missing from the label altogether. To truly encourage an applicator to read and follow the label we need a consistent, concise and […]

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How Canadian Crop Protection Products are Assessed for Safety

As originally published by The Grower, August 2020. Pests such as insects, diseases, and weeds can affect our quality of life in many different ways. Pests can represent a threat to public health and the environment as well as create substantial negative impacts to the economy if they are not sufficiently managed. Crop protection products […]

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Crop-Adapted Spraying (CAS) and an Apple Orchard Case Study

The ultimate goal of CAS is to adapt the amount of active ingredient per unit ground area such that the amount of active ingredient per unit target area (usually the leaf area) remains constant for canopies of varying shape and density. When this is achieved with sufficient accuracy, the pesticide efficacy is maintained. These three plants are all significantly different in size. When calibration is appropriate to each plant, the foliar coverage “experienced” for each plant will be the same, in spite of differences in the amount of solution expelled per ground area.

An orchard spraying scenario Here’s a common situation: An orchardist following IPM identifies a pest that poses an economic threat. It’s an annual pest and spraying is really a matter of when, not if. The operation is 150 acres and runs three airblast sprayers; two have a tower and one does not. Multiple varieties are […]

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Don’t try this tempting shortcut

There’s a call that I’ve been getting for 20 years now. It came again this week. Someone has a twincap with two small air-induced tips, and they’re applying herbicides and fungicides with low water volumes, often 5 gpa, sometimes less. They call because they want to know how much wind they can spray in. Is […]

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Pesticide Safety for Student Workers

This article is based on a presentation by Dr. Melanie Filotas, who delivered it as part of the 2019 agriculture summer student orientation day. Most crops are sprayed with organic or synthetic pesticides at some point during the growing season. Use caution before entering any area where crops are grown (e.g. corn field, nursery, greenhouse, orchard […]

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