THE first question put to grain growers attending a recent series of spray application technology workshops asked them to identify where they would like to upgrade their skills.
With few exceptions, all growers have prioritised a need to upgrade their spray nozzle selection technology and their spray application record keeping.
Department of Employment, Economic Development and Innovation development extension officer Rod Collins, who is leading the Grains BMP (Best Management Practice) project in Central Queensland, said that the industry-funded spray workshops were held at Clermont, Capella, Springsure, Moura and Biloela in late January.
Grains BMP is a Property Management Systems Initiative developed in partnership with QPIF, Fitzroy Basin Association Inc (FBA) and AgForce. The project is backed by funding under the Reef Rescue component of the Australian Government’s Caring for Our Country that aims to improve water quality of the Great Barrier Reef lagoon through increased adoption of sustainable land management.
Five groups of Central Queensland grain growers are completing the current round of the Grains BMP program. Assessment of their pesticide application practices identified a need for more information on the latest developments in spray application.
Bill Gordon, an acknowledged spray consultant specialist who conducted more than 100 workshops through all eastern states and South Australia last year, delivered the Central region’s Grains BMP workshop series. He has been contracted by Grains Research and Development Corporation and the Cotton Research and Development Corporation to deliver 180 workshops in 2010.
Mr Gordon said increasing legislative requirements were coming into play that would require spray operators to only apply coarse droplets to meet a number of new chemical label requirements and minimise damaging spray drift incidences.
“The vast majority of growers are quite comfortable about applying herbicides and pesticides but the reality is that they have not been upgrading their knowledge and skills in keeping with advanced technology,” Mr Gordon said.
“Today we are working with bigger, wider, faster specialised spray rigs equipped with state-of-the-art guidance systems and a tank capacity to deliver 9000 litres of chemical in less than 2 hours.
“A small issue left undetected can rapidly escalate into a costly mistake.
“Growers must be fully aware of what is happening around them by understanding and measuring the environmental conditions.
“It is imperative that they can accurately calibrate spray output of herbicides according to the manufacturer’s label and know how the new generation of coarse spray droplet nozzles perform.
“To meet legal requirements, growers will ultimately have to refit spray rigs with the optimum coarse droplet spray nozzles matched to pump pressure and output,” Mr Gordon said.
Mr Gordon said Central Queensland growers had to contend with particularly harsh environmental cropping conditions and it was a fact of life that they had to push the capacity of the farming system harder.
“There is constant pressure to control weeds in a tight time frame or risk losing valuable stored soil moisture,” he said.
Speaking from the Grains BMP Biloela workshop attended by 10 Callide Valley growers, Mr Collins said spray operators were well aware that their increased efficiency of chemical application was directly linked to increased profitability.
“Nozzle selection has a huge impact on weed kill efficacy and minimising off-farm spray drift,” Mr Collins said.
“Investment in a new spray rig is not necessarily the answer.
“Regional case studies have shown by fitting the correct nozzle, chemical input costs can be reduced by 10 per cent.
“For a large scale grain grower cropping 4000ha, nozzle selection alone can represent a saving of $10,000 a year,” Mr Collins said.
* Spray application record keeping was also flagged as a grower priority. Through the Grains BMP website growers can obtain hard copy records, electronic templates and advice.
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