My challenge to everyone. I was on a property this week that had poor weed control, after inspecting his sprayer and watching him turn it on, i instructed him on how to improve his spraying equipment and techniques.We are seeing so much glyphosate resistance and many of you also are contributing to it because of inexperience and lack of teaching in this area. Here are some areas people need to get more fluent on.
You want to spray with more pressure. The finer the mist, the more particles are being sprayed. The smaller the particles, the better chance more of them will stick to the weeds we are trying to kill. We want to mist our weeds versus drench them. There are newer and improved high pressure tips for many sprayers. They are much more effective. You also want to use surfactants, adjunctants and crop oils where required. Consult your labels before spraying anything. You greatly benefit by using dry or liquid ammonium sulfate with your glyphosates.
Many hard to kill weeds you need to use 1.5-2.0 quarts per acre of glyphosate versus 1 quart. With clethodim, why not use 16 oz per acre versus 10 ounce. We never want to stunt weeds, we want to completely kill weeds. Most weeds need to be sprayed when they are between 2" and 6" tall. From my experience most food plotters sprayer after that, again reducing odds of complete kill.
Time of spraying is also an issue. Spraying when weeds are dormant or not in growth mode is bad science. When temps are too low or too high are these conditions. Plants shut down during periods of extreme heat and drought. How about in times of high winds, when you have drift, you reduce the chance of effective weed control.
How many gallons of water do you actually spray per acre? Without having your sprayer calibrated, your gambling. How fast are you driving when your spraying? Are your sprayer tips clean and effectively spraying? When are you putting herbicides in your sprayer tank, are you filling part way with water, adding herbicides then finishing adding water.
https://www.agriculture.com/…/16-steps-to-better-spraying_2…
Learn how to more effectively spray not just for yourself but your neighbors and those in our future.
