The Rural Voice, 1983-04, Page 17Crop Pesticides:
Savings & Values
Tough economic times have forced us
to take a closer look at input costs.
Crop pesticides can represent a lot of
money. The problem is to reduce
pesticide costs without endangering our
crops.
A good place to start your attack on
pesticide costs is at the financing level.
Retailers have a definite preference for
being vendors and not lenders. If you
can arrange your financing through the
bank and approach the retailers with
cash in hand, you should be able to
negotiate some good discounts.
Knowing what to buy is another
problem. There are many competitive
products to choose from. The best
place to start is with the identification
of your crop problems. For example,
you'll have to know your weed prob-
lems. Then you can sit down with your
dealer or someone at the O.M.A.F.
office and lay out your herbicide pro-
gram.
The advance planning that you do will
not only pay dividends in improved
weed control, but you should be able to
save time and money. You'll save
money by shopping around, knowing
what you want and your alternatives.
Your dealer has more time to talk,
dicker and deal now than he will at the
height of the spraying season. You'll
save yourself valuable time by laying
out your recipes and tank mixes now -
rather than when the sprayer pulls in for
the first fill -up.
We see many growers who try to save
money by shaving the rates on chemi-
cals they're applying. They figure that,
like fertilizers, you'll get a big return for
the first dollar spent and decreasing
returns for each additional dollar inves-
ted. Pesticides, however, don't act that
way. For example, corn rootworm in-
secticides applied at less than 80 per
cent of the recommended rates provide
virtually no control. Herbicides are
much the same. You require a certain
concentration of a product to get any
control.
So you may say "I'll just cut the rates
a little bit - maybe 10 per cent - what
will that hurt?" The fact is that most
application equipment is far from per-
fect. A study of several hundred farm
sprayers in the U.S. showed a variation
of over 20 per cent in delivery rates
from nozzle to nozzle in over half the
machines examined.
In addition to variations across the
spray boom, you can add fluctuations
in pressure. changes in height as the
boom bounces around and variations in
ground speed of the sprayer. There are
so many opportunities for error in appli-
cation you really can't afford to cut
rates.
It's a case of adding insult to injury if
you spend good money on products
only to apply them at rates too low to
do any good.
The only solution is to check and
calibrate your equipment well in ad-
vance of planting season. You may not
save any money directly. but you'll
avoid costly mistakes and expensive
recovery operations.
When you get to the spraying season.
take a good look at triple rinsing
herbicide containers. A recent survey
found that many "empty" containers
still retained up to 5.5 per cent of their
original contents. In this case a person
who triple rinsed all the containers
would effectively have one free con-
tainer for every twenty purchased.
There are a couple of gadgets on the
market to make rinsing quicker and
easier. These are the E -Z Rinse and Jet
Rinse devices. They can effectively
rinse a container in about 30 seconds.
You'll get the benefit of more of the
material that you've paid for while
reducing the hazard posed by the
"empty" containers.
Assuming you get your chemicals
applied at the right rates and at the
right time, don't take for granted that
your job is done. Fields should be
checked at regular intervals starting at
crop emergence. It you can catch
problems early the solutions are cheap-
er and easier than when the problem is
well advanced. For example, we often
see annual grass escapes that can be
fixed in the early stages by a harrow or
rotary hoe. Allowed to develop these
escapes may require an expensive re-
spray plus some lost yield. Notes you
make while checking your fields will
give you information to better plan the
next year's program.
The keys to controlling your chemical
costs and realizing their full value are:
planning, preparation and a keen eye on
the field. Observations that you make
this year will better equip you to plan
for next year. You can both save money
and derive greater value from the chem-
icals you buy. The cost will be added
wear and tear on your pencils and
walking shoes.
Art Lawson
Associate Ag. Rep.
ALFRED KNECHTEL
Spray Painting Ltd.
Specializing in Farm Buildings
Airless Spray Painting
• Free Estimates •
R.R. 2 Wallenstein, Ont. NOB 2S0
(519) 669-2638
SaN
r E
We manufacture
a heavier, stronger
tubing at
competitive prices.
Our representative
works closely
with the
local contractor.
glaze / GLG %0:c.
R.R. 3, WALKERTON, ONTARIO NOG 2V0
Plant location:
Four roads north of Teeswater,
one road west of Highway 4.
Use our Toll Free Number
1-800-265-3008
THE RURAL VOICE, APRIL 1983 PG. 15