Articles about horizontal booms with air-assist or directed nozzles.
Air-assisted boom sprayers have been around since the 80s (likely longer). Common in Europe, they have demonstrated value in mitigating drift and improving canopy penetration. In North America, they are used by a few vegetable and berry growers, but are exceedingly rare among field croppers. There are a few possible reasons for this. Air-assist is […]
In early July 2016, a farm supplier contacted us on behalf of a client with a history of disease control issues in his field pepper operation. He wanted us to calibrate their sprayer and diagnose spray coverage to see if there was room for improvement. Improved coverage doesn’t necessarily mean improved efficacy, but generally it’s a […]
Read More… from Drop Hoses can Improve Coverage in Field Peppers
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 […]
Read More… from How Spot Spraying will Affect Sprayer Design
One of the pleasures of working in agricultural extension is when you’re able to help a grower solve a problem. This was one of those happy occasions. An orchardist purchased a Lipco multi-row recycling sprayer and wanted help evaluating their spray coverage. We worked in 3.7 m (12 foot), mature, high-density Royal Gala trees. The […]
This week I spoke with Gerry Bell, a producer from near Gravelbourg in southern Saskatchewan (a beautiful town with a historic downtown, church and school, also, home of the Gravelbourger at the local diner). He told me about a project he recently completed, converting his older pull-type sprayer to a granular spreader. It’s a great […]
Read More… from New Use for Bourgault 1460 Field Sprayer (#SprayMar)