Matching small-farm crop sprayer application technology with OMRI and traditional agricultural products

Matching small-farm crop sprayer application technology with OMRI and traditional agricultural products

Summary

Smaller-scale horticultural farmers grow a diversity of crops requiring an array of products for pest control and fertility, most frequently applied as liquids. A review of traditional and OMRI approved materials used in organic farming indicates significant deficiencies: a) detailed application instructions are generally not provided, only use rates; b) product formulations vary widely in viscosity and particle size; and c) agricultural professionals and farmers receive safety training, but have limited knowledge of smaller-scale liquid application technologies.

This project provides “deployable” technical resources for agricultural professionals’ use.
Sprayer manufacturers do not provide wide assortments of nozzle tips, strainers, filters and regulators. Other companies specialize in these accessories. This disconnect has consequences for farmers’ minimizing input use while maximizing efficacy. Accurate, timely, efficacious application of materials provides healthy products, while inadequate or inappropriate applications reduce consumer safety, product quality, and farm profits.

Three one-day hands-on training sessions will be conducted; one in New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Delaware. Two training hardware kits with instructional curriculum will be provided each state. Training kits will consist of a sprayer and an array of nozzles, filters and regulators.
Sixty individuals will attend the training sessions and 40 individuals will utilize knowledge and equipment provided to advance farmer educational programs through meetings and farm demonstrations. In the following year, 250 farmers will benefit through hands-on participation and instruction material. A one-year follow-up survey will be conducted assessing impact related to performance targets.

Objectives/Performance Targets

Of the 60 professional agricultural educators trained at the three state training sessions, 40 utilize the sprayer training kits both on farm and at grower meetings. They will train 250 farmers within the next 2 years.

In addition, to advance performance targets, the original project participants will be encouraged through continued surveying to train second level agricultural education professionals in the use of training kits. These individuals will be composed of not yet identified educators who reside within university extension with vocational training skills (research farm technicians, etc.).

Accomplishments/Milestones

A] Acquisition of backpack sprayers

The initial project implementation included accumulation of the current array of backpack sprayers available to farmers. Extensive investigations through various sources including Internet searches, farm magazines and personal inquiries led to the acquisition of 14 models of backpack sprayers from nine manufacturers. Not all manufacturers’ models of backpack sprayers available were acquired for several reasons, including availability and lack of awareness of manufacturer. Backpack sprayers covering currently available technology acquired include the following:

1] Hand-operated piston pump — external mounting [outside tank]

2] Hand-operated piston pump — internal mounting [inside tank]

3] Hand-operated diaphragm pump — external mounting [outside tank]

4] Electric motor powered diaphragm pump [rechargeable battery]

5] Gasoline engine roller pump

6] Gasoline engine air assisted mist blower

In addition to the sprayers, the manufactures accessories such as nozzles, shields, filters etc. were either accumulated for evaluation or listings of those available parts were obtained.

B.] Acquisition of third-party sprayer accessories — nozzles, pressure regulators, screens / check valves, sprayer handles/valves

Manufactures of backpack sprayers generally provide a limited selection of nozzles and accessories related to the application of liquid agricultural products. Extensive arrays of currently available sprayer accessories were accumulated for retrofitting to various backpack sprayers. Readily obtainable spray part accessories are important for small-scale farmers to address application of a multitude of liquid agricultural products. In excess of 20 different nozzle designs and flow rates, eight different pressure regulating valves, quick change nozzle bodies, as well is a multitude of various check valves and screens, trigger valve handles and handle extensions were acquired for retrofitting evaluation.

C] Acquisition of OMRI spray materials

Various individuals including farmers and agricultural professionals were contacted to acquire an array of problematic liquid application materials utilized by small-scale farmers. Attempts to obtain compost teas and various other materials resulted in the acquisition of several commercial agricultural products noted in the OMRI approved list. Evaluation of these products indicated Surround [kaolin clay] provided desirable parameters to evaluate backpack sprayers and accessories. Spray solutions of Surround required agitation and filtration to prevent nozzle clogging. Spray droplets dried on leaf surfaces with excellent visibility. Surround was selected as the material to use to evaluate backpack sprayers.

D.] Evaluation of backpack sprayers for implementation and integration into train-the-trainer programs: The acquired backpack sprayers were evaluated utilizing several objective and subjective evaluations for inclusion into training class program material.

1] Each sprayer was fitted with a pressure regulating valve [GATE Technologies- CFVALVE — part number – 11-16SY] to maintain an operating pressure of 30 PSI in combination with a standardized nozzle rated to produce 0.52 to gallons per minute at 30 PSI. The time and number of pump strokes required to spray 1 gallon of water from 11 sprayers was recorded. The data is presented in table 1*.

2] Eight of the 11 sprayers evaluated in number one above were re-evaluated utilizing a 15 PSI regulator with the same nozzle producing 0.37 gallons per minute at 15 PSI. The data it is presented in table 2*.

As noted in tables 1 and 2 there was a wide discrepancy among the hand-operated sprayers regarding effort to pump 1 gallon of water at two different pressures. The data at 30 PSI which is a typical operating pressure for backpack sprayers reflects some of the most significant differences among sprayers evaluated. Most noteworthy, some sprayers required approximately twice as many strokes to pump 1 gallon. The general indication was larger piston pump models required significantly less pumping effort than sprayers equipped with diaphragm pumps. Some sprayers have direct handle to connections while others are engineered with a leveraging system to reduce fatigue.

The electric diaphragm pump sprayer operated by a rechargeable battery was evaluated with the pressure regulating valves noted above. This electric motor sprayer has its own internal pressure regulating system with three settings [low, medium, high]. An issue developed when a pressure regulating CFValve set at 30 PSI was installed in conjunction with the internal sprayer regulator set at the high setting. An excessive amount of time was required to pump 1 gallon of water. It is suspected that the internal pressure regulator will not operate in conjunction with an external regulator due to conflicts between the regulators.

In addition, a gasoline powered backpack sprayer was included in the evaluation with the 30 PSI CFValve. There was no internal pressure regulating system on the sprayer; the added pressure regulating valve produced accurate spray output.

E.] Field evaluation of backpack sprayers :

A 12,000 ft.² field was prepared for crop planting utilizing black plastic mulch on six-foot centers to provide enough area to operate backpack sprayers down each row of various crops planted. Six different crops were planted addressing several spraying parameters ;

1] A leafy vegetable crop with a waxy cuticle — cabbage

2] A low growing fruiting crop with aggressive vegetative growth habit — zucchini squash

3] A trellised upright growing fruiting crop — staked tomatoes

4] A fruiting crop with leaf hairs — eggplant

5] A fruiting crop with smooth leaf surface — green peppers

6] A low growing leafy vegetable — leaf lettuce

Eleven different backpack sprayers representing hand-operated piston pump, hand-operated diaphragm pump, gasoline powered hydraulic pump, gasoline powered mist blower and electric powered diaphragm pump were utilize to apply Surround — kaolin clay at the rate of one half pound per gallon of water to produce a liquid suspension allowing sprayer operator to visualize crop spray coverage. Four experienced backpack sprayer operators subjectively evaluated sprayer performance on six different crops noted above. The operators were instructed to evaluate the sprayers on a single overall satisfaction parameter which included comfort, effectiveness, and ease-of-use/fatigue. The sprayers were utilized by each operator for treating approximately 1/4 acre of various vegetable crops. Long term usage was not considered in the evaluations.

The data from this evaluation is presented in table 3*.

The average ratings of the sprayers evaluated provided insight into the data generated in table 1*. The hand-operated piston pump sprayer that required the least pumping effort rated highest. Gasoline powered sprayers both hydraulic and mist blower models rated were highly rated.

F] Train-the-Trainer program — a training manual for participants was developed based upon the information provided in A – E above for the initial training program on September 19, 2006 at the New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station — Rutgers University — Snyder Research and Extension Farm in Pittstown, New Jersey. Twenty Nine participants representing Rutgers Cooperative Extension, United States Department of Agriculture-IR 4 program, United States Department of Agriculture — Natural Resource and Conservation Service and Northeast Organic Farming Association of New Jersey attended

The program agenda below describes the program;

AGENDA
Program: Hands-on outdoor training for precision agricultural liquid application

10 a.m. — 12 noon

Introduction to backpack sprayers and advances in design improving application accuracy: research level and farm level calibration standards.

A] Sprayer design demonstrations including; hand, gasoline and electric powered

B] Pump design including piston, diaphragm and miscellaneous pumps: advantages and disadvantages.

C] Modifying and adapting backpack sprayers to address liquid product application of varying consistency.

D] Overview of spray nozzle design and impact on drift control and target coverage

E] Calibration essentials: controlling speed, pressure, and coverage area with backpack sprayer’s

Noon — 12:45 p.m.

Review of morning program over lunch

12:45 p.m. to 2:15 p.m.

Crop application incorporating four sprayer designs

The afternoon session will include four teams utilizing different sprayer designs applying “Surround” kaolin clay to a crop area. Data will be collected on several parameters including; crop coverage, time efficiency comparing backpack sprayers and tractor mounted sprayers and spray drift.

The sprayers will include — hand operated backpack sprayer, gasoline powered backpack mist blower, gasoline powered backpack sprayer and a conventional tractor mounted sprayer. Data collection and discussions related to accuracy time efficiency and equipment cost will be held after the applications are complete.

2:15 p.m. — 2:30 p.m.

Evaluation forms to be completed by attendees. Handouts distributed.

At the conclusion of the program a series of 13 questions were included in the program evaluation form. The average evaluation for the 29 respondents is presented in the table below:

New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station
Snyder Research and Extension Farm

United States Department of Agriculture — Northeast Region — Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Train the Trainer Program

Project Title: Matching Small Farm Crop Sprayer Application Technology with OMRI and Traditional Agricultural Products

Training Course Evaluation and Suggestion Results
(29 Participants Responded)

Please rate each question from 0 to 5 (zero equals lowest evaluation and 5 equals highest evaluation).

1. Did training program meet your expectations? — 4.45

2. How effective was training program for farmer training activities? — 4.4

3. How effective was training program enhancing accuracy of liquid application to crops for small-scale farmers? — 4.55

4. Did the training program adequately address the availability of various types of backpack sprayer’s? — 4.7

5. How effective was the training program in addressing improvement in farmer efficiency [time and effort. in the application of liquid materials? — 4.17

6. How effective was a training program in addressing the application of liquid agricultural products for improved pest control? — 4.1

7. Please rate your knowledge base on backpack sprayer’s prior to the training program? — 2.76

8. Please rate your knowledge base on backpack sprayer’s post training program?— 4.32

9. Did the training program address the application of problematic agricultural spray products? — 3.69

10. Please rate the following individual components of the training program:

A. Sprayer design — 4.39

B. Sprayer modifications — 4.85

C. Spray coverage indicators [plant leaves, spray papers and kaolin clay etc. — 4.75

D. Nozzle design and spray coverage characteristics — 4.75

E. Spray product directions for use labeling — 3.62

11. The training program is to address the disconnect between manufacturers of sprayers, spray products and sprayer nozzles /accessories; did the program address the disconnect? — 4.25

12. Did the training program meet the hands-on objective? — 3.97

13. Rate the difference between a PowerPoint training program and today’s program: a high rating indicates today’s program much more effective? — 4.67

Table 4* lists the general cost structure for sprayers acquired. The sprayers utilizing gasoline pumps are generally in the $500 range while hand-operated sprayers ranged from $65 to $250.

The cost and performance of sprayers was addressed in the training program. For instance, acquiring several lower cost sprayers each for a specific use may increase efficiency and effectiveness of liquid application for small farmers. Single higher cost sprayers requiring repairs during the growing season may inhibit crop production practices critical to profitability.

The training program contents were presented to the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection — Division of Pesticide Control Programs and the American Society of Agronomy — Certified Crop Adviser Program for professional credits.

Additional training programs are being planned in 2007 in Delaware and Pennsylvania. The training kits and follow-up impact survey are scheduled for fall 2007.

* Tables not posted electronically, available upon request grande@aesop.rutgers.edu

Collaborators: