Preventing Mistakes

A few simple tips for the 2023 production season

By Joy Crosby

As the production season goes on there are times where farmers make mistakes or things simply go wrong. Through the years, Eric Prostko, University of Georgia Extension weed scientist, has seen his share of mistakes, which could have been prevented in some cases.

“I've been doing extension work for about 31 years and nobody ever calls me when things are good. It's always when farmers have a problem,” Prostko says. “Most of the things I see or hear about are self-inflicted and could have been prevented. Everybody makes mistakes, including myself, so I just want farmers to think about some of these things as they go through the production season.”

Prostko’s first recommendation for farmers is to use the resources around them including their county Extension agent and other farmers. If a farmer ever has a doubt about what to mix or which chemical to use then Prostko encourages them to ask for help.

“It is always better to ask for help in advance, even on the weekend, than to call your Extension agent Monday morning and tell them what you did,” Prostko adds.

Labels on chemical containers are so important and Prostko recommends for farmers not to even use a chemical if the container does not have a label. Some of the labels even appear similar and mistakes can happen when farmers are in a hurry and grab the wrong chemical container.

To help prevent using the wrong container, Prostko recommends for farmers to follow the advice from fellow peanut grower Kerry Hodges of Sylvania, Georgia. Hodges spray paints every jug of dicamba with red paint across the top as soon as it arrives at the farm. This helps prevent

Hodges or any of his workers from accidentally spraying dicamba on peanuts.

Prostko understands the struggles farmers face at spraying time when they have jugs all over the place, tractors running and heading to different fields, phone ringing and other distractions. Therefore, Prostko encourages farmers to clear out their spray area and only have the jugs they are planning to spray in the mixing area.

Mixing too many products at once can also cause problems too. If too many products are placed in the tank and in the wrong order then problems can arise.

“I understand farmers want to save money by reducing trips across the field,” Prostko says. “However, more products in the tank equals more potential problems.”

Prostko recommends for farmers to download an app, Mix Tank, to assist when mixing three or four pesticides at one time. The app is free and allows farmers to choose the products they are planning to spray and then the app lists the order that farmers need to add the chemicals to the tank.

Another app Prostko recommends using weather apps, such as Pocket™Spray Smart or RRXtend Spray, to follow the wind speed and the direction of the wind to help minimize drift. Farmers may follow a variety of other off-target prevention recommendations (i.e. nozzle type, formulation, boom height, ground speed) and the use of a drift retardant but that still doesn’t give a 100% chance of no drift.

“I realize that sometimes farmers are up against the wall and they are going to have to spray, regardless,” Prostko says. “Weather apps can help farmers make a real-time and betterinformed decision when spraying.”

Mistakes can happen but by following some of these recommendations and tips then hopefully farmers will have a production season with few issues.