Tag: orchard

  • OrchardMAX

    OrchardMAX

    2016_Orchard_Max_Logo

    OrchardMAX won the 2016 Canadian Agri-Marketing Association’s “Certificate of Merit” in the Mobile Apps Category.

    2022 Update

    OrchardMAX was developed in 2016. iOS and Android have moved on since then, so the links to the app no longer function. Maintaining this app for new operating systems requires a capitol expense which, presently, we have not explored. If you have some interest in exploring the model, reach out to jason@sprayers101.com and we’ll send you a copy that will work on Excel.

    What is OrchardMAX?

    OrchardMAX is a free app developed by the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs to improve sprayer efficiency and effectiveness in apple orchards. The app is based on the Crop-Adapted Spraying (CAS) model, which was tested in semi-dwarf and high-density apple orchards in Ontario and Nova Scotia from 2013 to present day. The primary goal of the app is to help the sprayer operator achieve consistent coverage, no matter the architecture of the orchard block, throughout the season. Research has demonstrated that following the process improves coverage while reducing wasted spray by an average of 20% over the season.

    OrchardMAX will:

    • Accept Metric or US Imperial units
    • Create an inventory of your orchard airblast sprayers
    • Create an inventory of your orchard blocks
    • Determine optimal sprayer settings based on the average size, shape and density of the trees in the block
    • Propose a pesticide dose for each block, including ideal nozzle rates, water volume and product(s) per tank
    • Develop a permanent spray record that can be emailed to the user for archival
    • Calculate work rates and estimate productivity

    OrchardMAX won’t:

    • Exceed label rates
    • Calibrate your sprayer
    • Confirm spray coverage
    • Account for environmental conditions such as wind, humidity or temperature
    • Advise a volume below 400 L/ha (about 42.5 US g/ac)
    • Advise a dose that is less than 1/2 the label rate (that may seem low, but consider a first-year planting)

    Recognizing that this app can only approximate ideal sprayer settings based on data entered by the user, sprayer adjustments are still required on the part of the sprayer operator. Specifically, the sprayer operator must still calibrate and adjust the sprayer air to match the tree and the environmental conditions and confirm coverage using water-sensitive paper.

    Why you should try it

    Financial savings: The app will help you match your sprayer settings to the crop you’re trying to protect. That means you will find out if you are over- or under-spraying the tree canopy and by how much. This information, combined with feedback from water-sensitive paper, will improve canopy coverage and very probably improve the quality of the apple crop. Additionally, the app may lead to reduced pesticide volumes, which reduces environmental contamination and saves money.

    Explore different spraying scenarios: Perhaps you’re considering a new planting and you would like to know how many tanks it would take to spray an orchard block for a given speed, or row spacing. Perhaps you are considering a sprayer with a larger tank to reduce the number of refills, or a smaller tank to prevent rutting and you want to see how that affects your spray efficiency. Maybe you’re considering decreasing your fill time by using a tender or nurse truck. Enter the parameters and see how it affects your spray day BEFORE you invest.

    Create permanent spray records: The app will create a library of spray records that are emailed directly to you.

    How it works

    Enter Farmer/Owner information
    Enter Farmer/Owner information

    Like any new practice, you have to put in a little time and effort to realize the full benefit of the app. Try it on a few blocks in the first year, make the changes to your spray program and review the results. As you get used to this new method for spraying, and see the improvement, you can continue to expand its use to the entire operation.

    First you have to enter information about your operation. This only has to be done once.

    1. Enter your profile information
    2. Complete the Inventory
    3. Information for each sprayer in your operation
    4. Information about each sprayer operator
    5. Information about each physiologically different orchard block (e.g. Trellised Gala on 10′ rows is quite different from mature semi-dwarf Empires)

    Now you are ready to calculate rates for a spray day.

    1. Choose the Sprayer, Operator and Block from your Inventory
    2. Decide if you want to use label-rate, or an optimized rate based on tree size
    3. Determine if you will spray every row, or alternate rows (You cannot choose to optimize your rate AND spray alternate rows)
    Select sprayer, operator and block from inventory, then enter spray-day data to calculate rate and sprayer settings.
    Select sprayer, operator and block from inventory, then enter spray-day data to calculate rate and sprayer settings.

    Enter information about the tree shape and density (This accounts for pruning and time-of-season). This is mostly visual, where the user chooses from a series of pictures

    • Enter label rate and preferred rate for each pesticide in the spray mix

    The software then lets you know how much carrier and/or pesticide can be saved if you nozzle your sprayer according to it’s prescription.

    • From a nozzle catalog, enter the nozzle rates for each position within 5% of OrchardMax’s prescription

    The software then assembles a simple spray record, including all the rate adjustments and sprayer settings, which is emailed to you for your permanent records.

    Where can I get it?

    Select your operating system (images below) and you will be taken to the respective store and begin downloading. Please rate the app so we know it’s being used and can work to improve it. Please opt in to provide us with usage information so we can see how it’s being used – this is entirely private, and we will not contact you.

    NOTE: These links may no longer function. Contact jason@sprayers101.com if you’d like to learn more about the model or to try the Excel version.

    The OrchardMAX app was developed by AgNition Inc. with funding from Growing Forward 2.

  • Strategies to Spray the Top of a Perennial Canopy

    Strategies to Spray the Top of a Perennial Canopy

    Orchardists, nurserymen and hop growers share something in common – they want to get spray to the top of a tall plant canopy with as little waste as possible. The tops of trees, for example, are a primary site of infection as they filter spores from the air, so fungicide coverage is critical. Spraying the tops of high canopies (e.g. too high for over-the-row style sprayers) can be a difficult proposition.

    Here are a few considerations:

    • Wind moving through a planting, as a general rule, is twice as fast at the top of a canopy as it is at the ground. Wind carries spray off target.
    • The further the distance a droplet travels, the smaller it gets as it evaporates and the less momentum it has. The likelihood of it hitting the target is greatly reduced.
    • The top of a canopy typically has far less plant material than the rest of the canopy. Relatively speaking, there’s not much there to hit.

    In order to overcome these challenges, the traditional axial orchard sprayer is nozzled with a larger proportion of spray distributed at the top of the boom. The idea is to increase the odds of some spray making it to the top of the canopy. Often, full-cone nozzles are used to accomplish this. Of course, if an estimated 10% of the spray actually impinges on the top of the canopy, the rest goes… well, somewhere else. This shotgun approach is hardly an efficient use of chemical.

    Another strategy is to crank the PTO rpm’s up to 540, throw the fan in high gear and blow the spray as high as possible. The problem is, by increasing air speed and volume to carry spray to the top, the rest of the canopy (far closer to the sprayer) gets overblown and spray shoots right through. Some overspray might hit the next row, but most ends up on the alley floor. If you doubt it, consider how white your pant-legs get when you walk an orchard after spraying kaolin clay.

    Others, mistakenly, might elect to raise the operating pressure to >150 psi in the hope that pressure will drive the droplets in a straight line at higher speeds. Most airblast sprayers using hollow cone patterns create very fine spray quality, even at 100 psi. Raising pressure means the droplets get even smaller, and tiny droplets have very little momentum. Increasing pressure just makes the problem worse.

    Here’s what we propose.

    Deflectors

    If using an axial sprayer, employ air deflectors at the top of the air outlet to channel air (and spray) more effectively. The commercially-available deflectors are often just flat sheets, and air hits the surface and spills over all edges. Image pouring water onto a dinner plate – it just splashes over any which way. Better to replace those deflectors with a set that feature side-walls to channel the air. Anyone with access to a break and some sheet metal can make their own, but ensure they do not stick out beyond the wheel of the sprayer or they could snag plants and trellises. Always aim to overshoot the canopy top by a small factor to compensate for unexpected gusts of wind – better to overshoot a bit than to miss.

    Commercial deflectors may or may not have channeling side walls. Inset: Homemade deflectors can do a great job.Commercial deflectors may or may not have channeling side walls. Inset: Homemade deflectors can do a great job.
    Commercial deflectors may or may not have channeling side walls. Inset: Homemade deflectors can do a great job.
    The original Munckhof deflectors were reversed, and a larger set of extensions were fabricated and attached.
    The original Munckhof deflectors were reversed, and a larger set of extensions were fabricated and attached.

    Towers

    Better than deflectors, some sprayers move the air and nozzles closer to the target via ducted tower assemblies. They work very well, but they must be as tall as the target you intend to spray. Even then, an uneven alley can cause them to rock and you might still miss some upper targets. Operators using adjustable towers or ducts might angle them back to aim the air (and spray) on a slight upward angle rather than parallel to the ground, and that can compensate for a slight height difference, but it begins to defeat the purpose.

    Nozzle body on upper tower deflectors. Still some air assist and a good idea, but use air induction nozzles.
    Nozzle body on upper tower deflectors. Still some air assist and a good idea, but use air induction nozzles.

    Extra Nozzle Bodies

    Some creative operators have attached additional nozzle bodies to the tower’s top deflector plate to aim it up in the top of the canopy. Still others have extended the wet boom itself higher than the tower. Unfortunately, although the nozzle is closer to the target (good) the benefit of air assist has been greatly reduced (bad). Air induction nozzles might help on boom extensions, per below.

    Wet booms can be extended to reach high canopies, but may no longer benefit from air assist. Consider using air induction nozzles in these positions.
    Wet booms can be extended to reach high canopies, but may no longer benefit from air assist. Consider using air induction nozzles in these positions.

    Air Induction Nozzles

    Consider using air induction nozzles in the top two positions of each boom (totaling four per sprayer), with or without towers. There are three advantages:

    1. Coarser droplets have more mass. They move in straight lines and are less likely to be deflected by wind before they reach the target.
    2. Coarser droplets can be propelled by pressure, so unlike finer droplets they rely less on being carried by sprayer air.
    3. Coarser droplets that miss the target do not continue upwards; they fall back out of the air into the orchard, reducing off-target drift potential.

    No matter which strategy, or combination of strategies, you use to hit the top of the canopy, always confirm coverage using water-sensitive paper. Further, recognize that it’s very difficult to compete with high winds, so know when to wait it out.

    Controlling your spray at the top of the canopy means better coverage and less waste. Plus, people won’t see this (wait until the ~50 second mark).