Three manageable factors that affect spray drift

It’s not only field sprayers that drift. Photo Credit – G. Amos and D. Zamora, Washington State.

In 2014 one of our OMAFRA summer students designed a short-and-gritty demonstration using a backpack sprayer, a variable-speed fan and some water-sensitive paper positioned downwind at 1.5 metre intervals. The intent was to illustrate how sprayer operators could reduce the potential for off-target drift by recognizing and accounting for three factors: Apparent wind speed (i.e. […]

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Can Nozzle Type, Carrier Volume or the use of an Adjuvant Improve the Control of Cercospora Leaf Spot in Sugarbeets?

Download the 2023 publication from Crop Protection here. Cercospora leaf spot (CLS), caused by the fungal pathogen Cercospora beticola, is one of the most damaging foliar diseases affecting sugarbeet (Figure 1) (Khan et al. 2008). Growers rely on broad-spectrum contact fungicides because they are less likely to cause fungicide resistance (OMAFRA 2020). However, these fungicides […]

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Adjuvants – A Primer

Spreader/Surfactant penetrating wax paper to get to water-sensitive paper.

We can always count on receiving regular questions about tank mixes but in recent years we’re hearing more about adjuvants. Many pesticides are already formulated with a variety of adjuvants. Perhaps they are intended to improve shelf-stability, or mixing and/or product performance. A pesticide label may specify a particular name brand or generalize a category […]

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Does the Pull-Type Sprayer once again have a Place on our Farms?

The self-propelled sprayer revolution is complete in western Canada. Almost all sales of new equipment are self-propelled. In fact, the once thriving sector of Canadian-made pull-type sprayers, and the innovations they brought to spraying, has disappeared. In its place we have self-propelled sprayers that offer plenty of power, large tanks, high mobility and comfort, and […]

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How much horsepower do I need?

How much horsepower (HP) do you need (really) when pairing a tractor and a towed sprayer or any other PTO powered implement? This important question should be asked BEFORE purchasing any towed implement. Surprisingly, there’s not much guidance out there, so you might hear answers like: Whatever my tractor has must be enough… whatever that […]

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