Pesticide Spraying Pt 1

Pesticide Spraying Pt 1

Bob Larson
Bob Larson
From the Ag Information Network, I’m Bob Larson with today’s Fruit Grower Report. It is springtime in the Pacific Northwest and time for pesticide spraying in many tree fruit orchards.

For those who haven’t yet begun spraying, Scott Nielsen, Program Manager of the Pest Management Division of the Washington State Department of Agriculture, says get out your checklist …

NIELSEN … “They’re going to want to calibrate that equipment, make sure that they know that its applying, you know, 50 or 100, 200 or more gallons per acre of tree volume that they know they’ve got everything set up just right, you know, at a certain speed, certain pressure, that they’re getting the right amount of product out there, you know, based on the recommendations that they need to apply.”

And, Nielsen says, your spraying goal is …

NIELSEN … “Everything they can do to keep the spray during application within the confines of the orchard. And any time they can do that, that’s just going to completely, you know, minimize or void the complaints that we might get.”

Nielsen says, make sure everyone knows their role …

NIELSEN … “You always just want to make sure there’s good communication going on and that’s by somebody always being aware of where the people are. And, you know, if you have to postpone an application or request that, you know, some people may be moved so that you can make one, but the real key is if you can keep that spray on your own farm that really eliminates a lot of the problems and kind of complaints that we often get.”

For questions, call the Washington Department of Agriculture at 360-902-2040.

Tune in tomorrow for more on pesticide spraying in your orchard.

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