| | Today's leading edge sprayer technology puts the power in producers' hands - but they'll have to understand it to get full value.
For about 30 years, spraying was most often a three week operation. With a pull- type rig, farmers covered crops with post- emergence products and then forgot about spraying for the rest of the year.
These days, spraying is considerably more complex. Today’s 90 to 120 foot sprayers, valued at $300,000 offer high clearance, with auto rate control and GPS technology. Many sprayers are used for six months of the year, in pre- emergence, post- emergence, pre- harvest and post- harvest treatments. With a complicated range of options and systems, it’s no wonder producers are rethinking sprayer application technology and systems.
Keeping pace with sprayer evolution
Sprayer technology has been a specialty at the AgTech Centre in Lethbridge, Alberta, since it was first established in 1975. In the last 25 years, the Centre has overseen the design, development and testing of new sprayer technology and has witnessed first- hand the dramatic evolution of today’s high- tech equipment.
Perhaps no one has had more direct sprayer experience than Project Manager, Brian Storozynsky. A veteran of the AgTech Centre (he helped pour the concrete when the facilities were built in their present location near the Lethbridge Community College. Stronozynsky has watched sprayers evolve from those first pull-type rigs.
The secret of getting the most value from sprayer technology today, says Storozynsky, is to understand the history of sprayer technology, why the designs developed and why they led to future changes. That development path helps explain many of the questions that producers are asking about sprayers. |
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