• Print
• Share

Wind Idiots Part 2

People have a lot of excuses for making stupid spraying decisions but there are no good reasons for their actions. Tuesday morning, just two days ago, I was driving down a county road and couldn't believe this guy was checking his nozzles and getting ready to spray. Yes it's been a challenging spring to get crops seeded and apply various herbicides either because of wind or wet field conditions. This is no excuse to make absolutely the worst decision possible from a spraying standpoint even under these weather delays.

There is always a right time to spray and you need to look for a sign. Well, Tuesday morning there were signs that should have told any rational individual to park the sprayer or don't even get it out of the shed. Here are three signs that should have scared your pants off.

1. The wind was blowing so hard it created a haze of dust across the landscape.
   2. Flags were snapping and flying straight out.
   3. Turkey vultures were constantly bending their wings shedding lift to maneuver across the sky.
   4. Windmeter reading was 15 to 20 MPH gusting to 25 MPH.

Even without a windmeter, you should know that firing up the sprayer in conditions like we had Tuesday may come back to bite you. There have already been cases of crop injury this month as a result of spray drift from a neighbour.

So you with the 60' sprayer and the red tractor with no cab, give your head a shake - does it rattle?

Figure 1. Soil blowing across the field should indicate to a farmer that it is not the best time to spray!

Related Links

• Attention Herbicide Applicators - Use Caution when Spraying in Close Proximity to Horticulture Crops
• We catch your drift