Wheat School: Take Aim at Fusarium with Spraying Fundamentals

Spraying wheat for fusarium head blight is simple. Right? You pick the correct product, target the middle of the application window and you’re ready to roll with the sprayer. What could go wrong? Plenty.

In this episode of the Wheat School, OMAFRA application technology specialist Jason Deveau and Bayer CropScience market development specialist Troy Basaraba review the spraying fundamentals required to ensure good wheat head coverage when applying a fusarium fungicide – everything from nozzle choice to droplet size, water volume and spray angle.

Why does droplet size matter? “A finer droplet will give you incredible coverage, but they can be very susceptible to wind and move off target,” explains Basaraba. “When we get into the medium and course droplet sizes, the droplet gets a little bit bigger and allows the operator to do a better job of directing the droplet onto the head.”

What about nozzles? “We want to use a twin fan nozzle,” says Deveau. “There are a lot of makes and models of asymmetricals, but you definitely need something that’s coming off on two angles.”

It’s also important to lower the boom, adds Deveau. “We want to get them nice and low to the crop so we can take advantage of those angles; we want to use a slightly larger droplet to enable it to stay on course and not be blown off target … and the more water, the better.”