There’s no denying when a spray clean out has gone wrong — the streaky start to a spray pass with injured plants never seems to happen at the back of the farm, either.
There are a few things at play, says Tom Wolf, co-founder of AgriMetrix and Sprayers 101. There’s the possibility of active ingredient getting hung up in the boom ends, screens, or other parts of the sprayer when using certain products. There’s also the chance that a water-only rinse is not enough to sufficiently clean out the tank or boom.
When it comes to managing sprayer clean out, Wolf says it’s important to understand the properties of the products used in the tank, as oily products may require an ammonia rinse or ammonia plus surfactant to truly clean out the sprayer and sprayer parts.
There’s also the option of managing the risk of active ingredients getting caught in the first place, by using either a recirculating boom or buying (even making!) a kit to retrofit an existing boom to eliminate dead ends.
Check out this Canola School recording at the Farming Smarter field day, which includes the in-field examples of poor clean out practices:
Find all 16 seasons of the Canola School, here!
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