Establishing an optimal airblast carrier volume

An orchardist taught me this trick: If you want to know if spray will penetrate a canopy, you should be able to see sunlight through the shadow at high noon.

Thanks to Mark Ledebuhr of Application Insight LLC for his contributions to this article. North American product labels may or may not include carrier volume recommendations. When they do, it could be based on a two-dimensional value like the planted area, or perhaps on row length which is more appropriate for trellised crops that form […]

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Crop-Adapted Spraying – A Multiyear Study in Highbush Blueberry (2024 Update)

This case study is taking place on a 15 acre highbush blueberry operation in southern Ontario. In 2016, considerable pressure from spotted-wing drosophila (SWD) prompted the growers to make changes to their crop management practices and their spray program. They employed a three-pronged approach to improving crop protection: We have been tracking pesticide use, water […]

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How to Succeed with a Soil Drench Application in Strawberries

The soil probe. See how far water infiltrates soil by taking core samples.

In 2016, Ontario berry growers were surveyed to determine the typical spray volume they used to apply unspecified crop protection products. For strawberry growers (day-neutral and June-bearing), the results spanned 50 to 1,000 L/ha (~5 gpa to ~100 gpa). In an earlier survey (2013), respondents specified 250 to 650 L/ha (~26.5 to 70 gpa) for […]

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RPAS Coverage and Drift in Field Corn

This work was performed with Mark Ledebuhr (Application Insight LLC.), Adrian Rivard (Drone Spray Canada) and Adam Pfeffer (Bayer Crop Science – funding partner). Amy Shi is gratefully acknowledged for her assistance with statistical analysis. Introduction In June 2017, Transport Canada cleared the general use of drones. In 2018, Health Canada clarified that the use […]

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Airblast sprayers for small operations

The Carrarospray ATVM (200 L pictured)

Did you come here looking for advice on which sprayer is best for your small operation? Are you looking to ditch the backpack mist blower? Do you want to avoid repeatedly mounting and dismounting a 3-pt hitch sprayer from your only tractor? Are you concerned you’ll have to sell an organ to be able to […]

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