CHANGING THE WAY WE MANAGE OUR FIELDS

APPLICATION BOOM HEIGHT AND THE BATTLE AGAINST WEEDS

THE GROWING WEED RESISTANCE PROBLEM IS CHANGING THE WAY WE MANAGE OUR FIELDS. CHEMICAL COMPANIES ARE RELEASING NEW CHEMICALS, WHICH WILL REQUIRE NEW METHODS IN APPLICATION.

The trend in spray application is changing and the focus is on more specific application. Depending on the chemical recommendations, airplane application or high booms may not be viable options.

“Previously, the rule of thumb was ‘low pressure, low spray drift’,” Dr. Bob Wolf said during his presentation at the Farm Progress Show. “But now the goal is going to be to reach a maximum of 24 inches height with the boom and more ideally 20 inches during application.”

The higher your booms are set now, the higher your risk is for spray drift. Higher booms go hand-in-hand with less uniformity and a less targeted application that is more subject to wind, according to Wolf.

“The boom height and row spacing should ideally be a 1:1 ratio,” Wolf said. “So if you have 20 inch row spacing, then your booms should be set at 20 inches.”

To reach the ideal ratio, the focus will fall on the appropriate nozzle selection, appropriate pressure and droplet size.

“A common problem seen today is too low of pressure with the nozzles,” Wolf said. “This will decrease the uniformity of coverage that is associated with that spray pattern.”

Ultimately, your determining factor for coverage and drift potential are influenced by the nozzle output and the uniformity.

As chemicals change and require more specific applications, it is even more important to understand the relationship of your boom height, nozzle, application pressure and speed.

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