Avoid the Heartbreak of Herbicide Drift

Crop injury caused by herbicide drift is guaranteed to cause heartache and confrontation, not to mention insurance claims and legal charges. No one wins when herbicides drift - the applicator loses 2 ways: his herbicide misses the target, giving poor weed control, plus he is liable for damage; the "receiving" grower loses yield, crop health, perhaps timely markets plus his time. Sometimes our environment loses, and in general, agriculture loses in public eye.

What's an applicator to do?

Work with the weather. Avoid spraying when weather is against you: winds above 11 km/hr or when winds are dead calm, temperatures above 30C, and/or when RH is above 80%. Identify vulnerable crops near your fields, and choose a spray day when winds are blowing away from these sites.

Make your spray less prone to drift.

Choose herbicides with low risk of volatility. Avoid products like 2,4-D or dicamba near susceptible crops or greenhouses. Choose higher water volumes and lower pressures for larger droplets. Use the newest anti-drift nozzles suited to your rig - there are many air-injection (AI) nozzles that will greatly reduce risk.

Work with your neighbours.

Let them know your intentions - maybe you can both make some buffer areas between vulnerable crops. Notify greenhouse growers to close vents during early morning spray times to avoid the drift.

Every herbicide applicator needs to take every possible step to avoid this lose-lose situation. There is risk of drifting with every herbicide application. But let's make that risk a calculated one, and make this spray season more pleasant.

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