PS&C Prairie Soils & Crops Journal Weeds, Herbicides and Management Best Management Practices for Herbicide Application Technology

Effective, Economical, and Environmentally Friendly – the three Es of spray application. In practical terms, the three Es mean the pesticide has to do a good job controlling the pest while allowing the operation to be fast, inexpensive, and low-drift. Viewed individually, or in groups of two, each of these goals is achievable. But meeting all three together requires compromise. Success relies less on a herbicide’s knockout punch, and more on integrating application with agronomic considerations that help herbicides do their job. For example, perhaps timely application is more important than perfect control; this may mean that coarser sprays, though possibly less effective, provide an overall advantage if they allow sprays to be applied at the right time. Any application approach has to be reconciled with continuing trends in the equipment, such as the use of heavier, faster machines and the need to cover more area in less time. All of these have implications for nozzle selection, because changes in boom height or travel speed affect nozzle performance. A better understanding of these three factors is necessary so that appropriate nozzle, sprayer, or water volume selections can be made. Inevitably, compliance with spray quality or wind speed restrictions on product labels will require applicators to apply coarser sprays no matter what type of sprayer they use. Selecting the correct nozzles and using them properly will be the key ingredients to success