How Spot Spraying will Affect Sprayer Design

Some years ago, a friend recommended that I read The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell. In this book, Gladwell tries to understand why some things catch on, and others don’t. It’s a compelling read full of Gladwell’s trademark stories and his knack to deftly interpret scientific studies. He talks of connectors, mavens, and salesmen, as […]

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John Deere See & Spray Select

On March 2, 2021, John Deere entered the optical spot spray (OSS) market with its first product, See & Spray Select™. This “Green on Brown” system identifies green material on a non-green background and is thus suited for pre-seed burnoff, chem fallow, or post harvest. It is competing for the same market space as Cropland’s […]

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OrchardMAX

OrchardMAX won the 2016 Canadian Agri-Marketing Association’s “Certificate of Merit” in the Mobile Apps Category. Before You Continue OrchardMAX was developed in 2016. iOS and Android have moved on since then, so the links to the app may no longer function. Maintaining this app for new operating systems requires a capitol expense which, presently, we have not […]

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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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Compulsory, Standardized Sprayer Inspections

Sprayer Calibration in Belgium

Spring always brings renewed interest in sprayer calibration. This is good, because a well-maintained and calibrated sprayer will protect crops more effectively and efficiently, as well as reduce the potential for off-target drift and point source contamination. Presently, there is no nationally-recognized standard for sprayer calibration in either Canada or the United States. As a result […]

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