Canadian Spraying Experts Bring Workshops to NZ Growers

Crop spraying is an important job on an arable farm as it is vital that agricultural chemicals are applied accurately, not just to minimise inputs and costs but to avoid environmental affects such as spray drift. 

Tom Wolf and Jason Deveau are co-founders of Sprayers 101, a non-profit, independent resource describing best practice in safe, efficient and effective agricultural spraying. As well as providing resources on their website, they also hold workshops which provide technical information to enable farmers and contractors to make the most of every spray application.

The Foundation for Arable Research (FAR) has organised a series of grower workshops with the pair throughout New Zealand from August 4 to 14. This follows the success of FAR’s combine workshops. 

FAR technology manager Chris Smith says that spraying is one of the biggest investments growers make during a season.

“Small changes in how a sprayer is set up and operated can have a big impact on crop performance, input efficiency and environmental outcomes. These workshops are about giving growers practical knowledge they can apply straight away on their own farms.”

Tom Wolf says the Sprayers 101 workshops cover topics such as how to choose the right nozzle, how to minimize spray drift and how to get the timing right for fungicides.

“Our crops are valuable and we need to protect that yield and crop quality.”

The pair promise that the workshops will be fun and interactive, while seeking to solve growers’ spraying issues including water volume, droplet size and spray pressure. 

As interest in spray drones continues to grow, two drone-specific workshops, at Leeston in Central Canterbury, and Ongaonga in Central Hawkes Bay, will give growers a deeper look at where drone applications may fit within arable systems, where limitations remain, and how to make evidence-based decisions around their use. For those unable to attend the drone workshops, key drone-related topics and insights will also be covered as part of the main Sprayers 101 programme.

Ahead of the workshops, the Canadian experts sounded a warning on drone spraying, with Tom Wolf saying he’s rarely been as conservative about a new technology. 

“I have yet to see evidence that the drone advances the state of the art over and above what a (land-based) boom sprayer currently does.

“It does not necessarily advance drift management, which we fought hard to obtain through good stewardship and also to build trust with our client groups and the general public.”

Unlike the United States, Canada has only just started to relax regulations around the spraying of pesticides from drones, says Jason Deveau.  

“Your swath, that is the width or the distance that you can reliably spray uniformly with as little variability as possible, is absolutely critical to drones working accurately.

“If you don't know how much area you've covered in a pass, if you don't know how much area is going to give you the efficacious result you're looking for, then that kind of variability is not what we're looking for in broadacre crops.”

Sprayers 101 workshops will be held on August 4 at Leeston, August 5 at Ashburton and Timaru, August 6 at Oamaru, August 7 at Gore, August 10 at Masterton, August 11 at Ongaonga, August 12 at Bulls, August 13 at Te Awamutu and August 14 at Te Puke. Additional drone spraying workshops will be held at Leeston and Ongaonga.

Register for the workshops on the FAR website, www.far.org.nz/events