Ohio’s Country Journal
May 2009
29
Farm EquipmEnt
ed guidance technologies. These containers can create waste dis- contained in small droplets. Air-assist
ErdAl OzkAn
There is an emphasis in research to posal problems and increase the risk of technology or a shield over the spray
reduce health risks. Almost all new pesticides getting into water resources. boom also can reduce drift.
sprayers include a small induction tank, Solutions: Educational efforts and regu-
Problem 5: Too much pesticide is wasted
Applied
filled easily from ground level, to mix pes- latory enforcement must be increased to
ticides into the sprayer tank. make sure small containers are properly
The targets being sprayed (especially
Engineering
trees) are seldom uniform in size and spac-
Problem 2: Pollution of water resources
rinsed before discarding. U.S. EPA guide-
lines recommend “triple rinsing.”
ing. Sprayers operated at a constant rate
Usually, pollution of surface or ground
However, a more effective approach is
lose pesticide that is sprayed through these
water is a point-source problem, not gaps in the tree canopy.
Pesticides must be a part of the solution
power rinsing with high-pressure liquid
caused by the way pesticides are sprayed Solutions: Canopy sensors are aligned
of growing more food per acre. If pesti-
jets. Most of the small chemical induction
(non-point source). Point-source pollution with a nozzle or group of nozzles. When
cides were banned worldwide, maximum
hoppers mentioned above have a set of
usually results from a) accidents during these sensors detect canopy, the nozzles(s)
yield levels of various crops would drop
nozzles inside that can clean the interior of
transportation, b) improper pesticide mix- are turned on, otherwise they’re off.
20% to 40%.
the pesticide containers using high-pres-
ing and loading sites, c) mixing and load- Erdal Ozkan, professor and Extension agri-
There are many inefficiencies and
sure liquid discharged from the rinse noz-
ing too close to water sources, especially cultural engineer, can be reached at 614-292-
health and safety concerns with conven-
zles. Most commercial applicators have
drilled wells, d) inadequate storage facili- 3006 or
ozkan.2@osu.edu. This column is pro-
tional application techniques. Here are five
switched from small containers to buying
ties, e) illegal dumping of leftover spray. vided by the OSU Department of Food,
problems and possible solutions.
pesticide packaged in large tanks. They
Solutions: Pesticide applicators should
return the tank with the remaining unused
Agricultural and Biological Engineering, OSU
Problem 1: Applicator safety
be encouraged to build a pesticide storage
pesticide inside to the dealer, receiving
Extension, Ohio Agricultural Research and
Applicators need to do a better job
facility, including a concrete mixing/load-
credit for the unused portion.
Development Center, and the College of Food,
because the pesticides used today are more
ing area with a rinsate collection pit, and Agricultural and Environmental Sciences.
Problem 4: Pollution of air with pesticides
expensive and potent. Application of pesti-
several rinsate storage tanks. Details on the
cides requires more precision.
design and management of a farm-scale Nozzles on a sprayer produce droplets
Solutions: The first step: education. In
pesticide storage facility are in a fact sheet: to distribute the pesticide uniformly.
Ohio we have an excellent pesticide educa-
ohioline.osu.edu/aex-fact/0522.html. Conventional nozzles produce droplets
Farm equipment
tion program overseen by the Ohio
In-line injection systems avoid the left- usually ranging from sizes not visible to
exports for 2008
Department of Agriculture in partnership
over pesticide water mixture in sprayer the naked eye to 1/16 inch. Some small
with Ohio State University Extension.
tanks when spraying is completed. With droplets evaporate, never reaching the tar-
increase 26%
Applying pesticides without a human in
these systems, the pesticide and water are get. Other small droplets may travel sever-
the field is a recent focus of research. One
kept in separate tanks. Any excess pesti- al hundred feet before depositing into a
method constructs a grid of nozzles in an
cide remains in the pesticide tank. non-target area, often causing damage.
U.S. exports of agricultural-related
orchard. Another approach uses remote-
Problem 3: Too many small, unrinsed,
Solutions: “Low-drift” nozzles and
machinery totaled $10.4 billion dollars in
controlled sprayers with GPS and automat-
discarded pesticide containers
chemical additives called “drift retar-
2008, an increase of 26% compared to the
dants” can reduce the volume of spray
previous year, according to the
Association of Equipment Manufacturers
(AEM). Australia/Oceania led the way in
percentage growth, followed by Canada,
THERE'S A REASON
South America and Europe.
The AEM trade group consolidates
U.S. Commerce Department data for off-
road equipment with other sources into
WE CALL IT SUPER.
quarterly export trend reports.
“Export growth was strongest in the
first quarter of the year and then
dropped substantially by the third quar-
ter,” said AEM vice president of agricul-
tural services Charlie O’Brien. “The
farming sector has not been immune to
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$2.8 billion. South America took delivery of
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agricultural equipment in 2008, a gain of
29%, and exports to Europe increased 23%
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export purchases were $299 million, a
registered trademarks of Vermeer Manufacturing Company in the U.S. and/or other countries.
gain of 21%.
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