Fundamentals of Spray Drift

The year 1989 marked my first spray drift trial under the watchful eye of Dr. Raj Grover and John Maybank. We evaluated the performance of several spray shrouds, Flexi-Coil, AgShield, Brandt, and Rogers, and wanted to measure just how effective they were. But in my heart I wasn’t interested in drift. I wanted to study […]

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Venting Liquid-Filled Pressure Gauges

Liquid-Filled or Dry? Small-plot agricultural sprayers should have a pressure gauge on the wand or boom to ensure accurate application rates. Most are added after-market and the operator has the choice of buying liquid-filled or dry gauges. Glycerine- or silicone-filled gauges are preferred because they dampen pressure spikes, pulsation and mechanical vibration. Compared to dry […]

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Oh the Places You’ll Spray

Enjoy our take on a Dr. Seuss work-of-art. We’re sure the fine doctor would want to end resistant pig weed’s reign of terror as much as we do. Hear us recite it in the sound bar, read it yourself, or head to the bottom of the article to see the talented Bridgette Readel (@bmreadel) read […]

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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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