Best agricultural practice has a lot of moving parts nowadays and that extends to control of spray drift. Pieter Van Der Westhuizen, UPL NZ Ltd Adjuvant Lead and Regional Manager Upper North Island, shares his top tips on good agricultural spray practice, and being a good neighbour.
How to avoid prosecution and keep on good terms with the neighbours
Best agricultural practice has a lot of moving parts nowadays and that extends to control of spray drift.
Many regional councils now have strict conditions regarding spray drift onto neighbouring properties, along with required notifications before spraying in some instances. That is on top of the economics of keeping spray where it works best, minimising waste, and optimising productivity.
Top tips for good agricultural spray practices
Pieter Van Der Westhuizen, UPL NZ Ltd Adjuvant Lead and Regional Manager Upper North Island, shares his top tips on good agricultural spray practice, and being a good neighbour. “First read the label carefully – even if you’re really familiar with a product." He says it’s particularly important to look at timings for re-entry, withholding and plant back periods. “These can be very specific and can vary, even if you’re using the same product over a variety of crops.
Choose products fit for purpose
“It’s also important to choose products that are fit for purpose, and that includes adjuvants - the products that make sprays spread, stick or get into plants. If you’re using a water-based chemical, then use a water-based adjuvant. It you’re using an oil-based chemical, use an oil-based adjuvant with it.”
Crop oils, crop oil concentrates, and methylated seed oils, Peiter explains, break down the waxy surface on plants and are vital to achieve efficacy for some herbicides, insecticides and fungicides. Water-based adjuvants are additives used in spray mixes (typically crop protection products and nutrients) to enhance performance, acting as surfactants, wetting agents, or water conditioners. “They work to give better spread.”
Watching the weather is another essential. “It sounds obvious. But if rain was to fall it washes the spray onto the ground where a lot of chemistry is lost - which is a waste. It’s supposed to work on the leaves, not the roots. It’s throwing money away.”
He suggests using a “spotter” to watch for potential spray drift and any sudden changes in wind direction.
Controlling drift
Making sure spray gets exactly where it needs to be (effective deposition), extends spray application windows, and maximises ROI from your spray programme. Importantly, it also helps prevent negatively impacting neighbouring crops.
Li-1000 and Unison are both multipurpose adjuvant - surfactant, penetrant, and drift retardant, all in one. Pieter says the non-ionic, low foam, surfactants enhance the activity and penetration of herbicides and other crop protection products. “Either one of them, Li-1000 or Unison, is the perfect partner, particularly for spray-out, knockdown herbicides such as glyphosate, enhancing activity and penetration. Glyphosate remains an important part of pastural farming practice, especially when fast turnaround for a new crop, or re-grassing is needed. And that’s quite often!”
Pieter says foaming in the spray tank is another spray efficacy robber. Though there is an easy and effective solution: FoamMaster®. Pieter says it only takes a tiny amount to save the waste that comes from foaming – 1 mL to 100 L. “FoamMaster sits on the top and pops the bubbles.”
Coverage is king
Probably the best known of UPL’s adjuvants is Du-Wett. Pieter recommends using the super spreader for optimal crop coverage. “It saves time, reduces waste and, critically, there’s going to be a better outcome.” Du-Wett will easily pay for itself, ensuring growers and farmers get the most out of every drop of the spray.
“With Du-Wett you cover a greater area faster, with a much-reduced water volume and still get better protection for the crop. Until relatively recently, the volume of water in spray programmes hasn’t been that big a concern. But now, with modern application techniques, including low water volume applications, rising fuel, labour, and spray costs, and shifts in attitudes towards to the use of water itself, that’s changing. And it makes financial sense to get onboard with that.”
“Du-Wett reduces the surface tension of spray droplets. One spray droplet containing Du-Wett can provide up to 20 times the spread of active compared to an insecticide applied without an adjuvant and at least 6-8 times compared to a conventional, non-ionic adjuvant.
Addressing water quality
“Hard water” Pieter says is another substantial challenge easily solved by using the right adjuvant. “Water hardness has one of the biggest negative impacts on spray performance.”
He says that leads to unnecessary expense, extra fuel and labour costs, and reduced efficacy - all issues easily addressed with a water conditioner. X-Change acts as a “sacrificial” product, changing “hard” water into “soft” by locking up free ions, which would otherwise deactivate products.
“Some chemicals, including glyphosates, are very susceptible to the effect of ‘hard’ water. The positively charged cations in calcium, magnesium, iron etc. bind to the negatively charged glyphosate molecule. This slows up-take, reduces solubility, reducing efficacy.
Avoiding crop residue damage
Last but not least, Pieter says the adjuvant All Clear is the insurance policy spray contractors, growers and farmers can’t afford not to have. “Even tiny quantities of the wrong chemical left in the spray tank can have a huge impact.”
Pieter says to avoid cleaning spray tanks with laundry powder or ammonia. “They’re not going to remove every trace of spray – that’s simply not what they’re formulated to do.
“But, above all, always read the label.”
