The following are testimonials and excerpts taken from documents pertaining to the technology of the Air Shear Guard Plus Nozzle and air-assist spraying technology: As if close to 4000 farmers could be wrong!
Andrew
Dennis, Brookdale, MB. February, 2007.
I extensively researched the Spray-Air pesticide application system before buying my own in the spring of 2002. My sprayer is a 854 Rogator mounted with the newest 96 foot wide Spray-Air boom. I also spent a lot of time researching how the Spray-Air company had refined the technology over time and how to use it to get the results that they had documented. I also had talked to farmers that owned the booms for a few years and found that they told accounts of success that lined up with what the companies documented results claimed. So with that information I started into my 6th year of custom spraying.
I farm 2500 acres myself and custom spray between 10,000-15,000 acres a year. The results that I achieved were nothing short of remarkable. I started at about 80% of the pesticide rate and 3.5-5.0 US gallons of water per acre. The low water volumes are really the key to the technology's success. With the right amount of air volume through the tips to break up the water stream into a fine mist, the coverage is superior to any other system out there. Too much water however, and the air can not do it's job. The bigger drops miss the target or roll off and the pesticide's effectiveness is lost. Over time, I learned I could use far less pesticide. Some are especially effective at a lower rate. I rarely spray anything over 75% of recommended rates and apply lots of acres at 50% rates.
My customers, most having been with me for 5 years already were eager to know how this was going to work because of the potential savings. Anyone who was hesitant about the water rate, I referred to the company. They all came back with this line: "I guess if we are going to get equal results with less pesticide we will have to use a lower water volume to have this work." They did their own research and told me what to do. in 5 years I have not had one complaint. In fact, some of my customers now own Spray-Air ground sprayers for doing their own ground spraying and are saving on total pesticide applied each year. That information should speak for itself.
On my own farm, I have been very impressed, saved a substantial amount of pesticide and more often than not, wondered how much less a person could have used. I seldom apply more than 65% of recommended rates. With this ongoing savings one could repeat an application if he had to, but I have not found the need to date. I must emphasize however, the low water volume is what makes this technology shine and it is imperative to adhere to that. I have sprayed up to 300 acres of glyphosate with one 800 gallon tank of solution (2.6 gal./acre) with very good results.
This application system is hard to beat if used as directed.
Rick Page, Carseland, AB. August, 2003.
After I finished spraying another field, I had enough Horizon left in the tank to make a few passes on a field that usually does not have much in the way of wild oat pressure. I made three passes through a low spot in the field that had a lot of wild oats this spring. With my Spray-Air 3 Point Hitch Sprayer, I used 1/2 rate Horizon at about 2.5 gallons of water per acre. The wheat was at the 5 leaf stage. Looking back, I sure wish I had sprayed the rest of the field, because the wild oats that showed up in the rest of the field were terrible. You can clearly see the three passes I made along a razor sharp line between clean wheat and wild oat infestation. At half rate, with such a clean job, cost would not have been as significant a factor with the Spray-Air as it would have been with a regular full strength conventional application.
James Lynn, Lynn Farms, Rumsey, AB. December, 2001. We farm 3500 acres mixed grains – all of it is no-till. So a sprayer plays a major role in our business. When we needed a new sprayer, I spent the better part of a year researching the different sprayers on the market. We decided on Spray-Air because of it’s delivery of chemical to the plant, less water usage, and the reduction on the amount of chemical required on our land. We use a variety of chemicals, Round-Up for spring burn off and for in crop on Canola, also Curtail-M, Refine Ex, Puma Super, Pursuit, Sencor, and Tilt. Our savings this year by using the Spray-Air was 30% on our chemical bill over the year 2000. With some fine-tuning of my chemical rates in the coming year I am sure I will be able to beat the 30% saved in 2001. I highly recommend the Spray-Air system, it is better for the environment and easier on the pocket book without losing effectiveness.
Dean
Raugust,
Near Drumheller, AB.
November, 2001
(Model
3200) I’m honored to be asked
for this info and I’d also like you to know this is the one and only piece of
equipment on our farm that I would do this for, as we are very particular and
hard to please when it comes to equipment. [The
Spray-Air] Benefits:
1.
Superior Coverage.
2.
Because of the coverage you must
cut chemical rates, or you will definitely damage your crop, translating into
dollars saved. Eg. In 2001 we
applied Odyssey on peas at 50% recommended rate with excellent weed
control, but still had a little damage to the peas.
Full Rate would have been devastating.
Odyssey at full rate is approx. $22/acre minus 50% = $11/acre savings.
3.
Environmental impact, excessive chemical build up in the soil is reduced
greatly.
4.
Peace of mind that last year’s chemical residues won’t hurt this
year’s crop.
5.
Ability to use specialty herbicides.
For example, Lontrel for thistles is going to be more of an option if you
are saving $8/acre on your Broad Spectrum Herbicide.
6.
Water volumes have been cut in half allowing us to concentrate on water
quality rather than quantity. We
also now cover the 320 acres per fill giving us the ability to cover more acres
per day and get to the crop at the most opportune time.
7.
Product support by Spray-Air has been nothing less than excellent.
They have compiled a herbicide usage package over the years with help
from farmers that have been using this technology.
This package was put together so well I didn’t have to call Spray-Air
once all season
Summary: I feel Canadian farmers are the most efficient in the world,
but it is not enough when we are competing with other country’s subsidy
programs. So, we need another
competitive advantage and I feel Spray-Air Technology is it.
Murray Temple, Deloraine, MB. December, 2001. We farm 8900 acres and have been using the Spray-Air Technologies system for 2 years. We have a 90 ft. Spray-Air Boom mounted on an 8400 Eagle. In 2000, we sprayed 25,000 acres and in 2001 we sprayed 23,000 acres. We don’t have to haul a lot of water because the low water volume needed to spray – 3 to 5 gallons. Liberty Link, Tilt and Follicur at 5 gals and any cereal crop sprays at 3 gals, which we plan to cut back to 2 gals next year. The Spray-Air system has cut our chemical bill in half. We have a regular boom mounted on the back of the air boom that we have only used once and plan to remove for next season. The Spray-Air Technology is everything the dealer said it would be and more!
Adrien Perrault, Zenon Park, SK. December, 2001 We’ve been growing Certified Alfalfa Seed for many years. A clean sample is very important, but we don’t always have the luxury of starting with a clean field, so we rely heavily on chemicals. Three years ago we bought our first 3 point hitch Spray-Air machine. At the time we were hoping to cut our chemical by 33%. The machine worked so well the first year that the second year I decided to apply the rates even lower. On some fields I was cutting the rates from 40% to 60% with great success. This past year I applied Pursuit and Select at 30% of recommended rate. That’s a 70% cut and it worked very well at keeping the cleaver and grass down at the bottom. I also put Reglone down at 30% of the recommended rate. It took about 2 extra days to dry down but that’s okay because I find if you put Reglone down at full rate and don’t combine right away, the seed falls off very easily. At the lower rate, the pods don’t fall off every time the wind picks up. The chemical companies want to make money…They don’t care about sustainability. I truly believe that if farmers in general would give this machine a chance, they would reap the benefits. Not only that, why own a $150,000 tractor and a $100,000 seeder in order to become high tech and then purchase 30 year old spraying technology? Spray-Air gives me flexibility on how much money I spend and where I spend it.
Professionally Engineered and Patented Technology!
The NRC developed the new nozzle technology and supports its use in the agricultural industry. Excerpts from the National Research Council of Canada Institute for Environmental Research and Technology Year in Review 1994-1995
The nozzle is designed to reduce the amount of chemical applied to crops while improving the control of spray dispersion in the field. Its use is expected to lower the cost of chemical spray applications, improve spray efficiency and reduce the impact on the environment.
The Environment wins; less chemical can be used more effectively. The crop producer wins; using less chemical per application reduces costs. Spray Air wins, with new technology that can give the company an edge in North American markets.
How about the thoughts of a professional crop consultant?
Kevin Hollands, Centrol Consultant, Fisher MN. January, 2001.
I have farmed and consulted in the Red River Valley for 20 years...crop consulting on 22 farms. One thing Centrol Consultants pride themselves on is taking good ideas and "passing them on" to our growers who will benefit from them. Over the last couple of years the bottom has fallen out of our commodity markets and every grower seems even more receptive to new ways of saving them money. One way growers can keep their chemical costs per acre the lowest is to invest in sprayers that can save them money.
Right now, I have 7 growers working with a spraying system called the Spray Air. The basic concept is to use more air instead of water. Its use has consistently reduced my grower's herbicide expenses approximately 40%...Excellent pest control through better coverage with less carrier volumes. [In sugar beets] the Spray-Air is a great fit. The past few seasons, I have increased the amount of recommendations for Spray Air use in both small grains and beans. The herbicide cost savings hold true here, also. Reduced rates work! I now have growers using the Spray Air for applying fungicides on all their crops. Applying pre-harvest Roundup is an option, also. Applying these pesticides themselves, instead of hiring out on these types of applications, has saved a considerable amount of money, also.
Over the years, here's what these farmers had to say:
Gary Angen
One of the best investments on the farm.
Richard and Marion Stamp, seed growers
An integral part of our pedigreed seed crop production.
Don and Jeanne Strikland
The Spray Air is a great machine. I love it!
Art Brekkas
Spraying is essential. The economics of Spray Air is very good.
Henry Toews
Would not farm without a Spray Air.
Jan Koenraadt
I now spray with better chemicals to control the weeds, otherwise I would not have sprayed them.
Glen Goertzen
One of the best investments on my farm.
Rosgen Farms
High cost of chemicals makes Spray Air an economical choice in sprayers.
Richard Goertzen
This is more impressive than you guys told me.
Ken Fetkenher
Best crop sprayer on the market.
Allan Steadman
From spring burn off through insect infestation to fall weed management, the Spray Air provides the best coverage for the best cost per acre.
Walter White
In short, this sprayer had added to my bottom line. I would recommend it to anyone.
Bill Flory
The only complaint we have is that we didn't purchase it sooner.
INDUSTRY RECOGNITION FOR OUTSTANDING TECHNOLOGY
This new technological advancement of the Shear Guard Plus Nozzle was viewed as a tremendous engineering accomplishment and was named as Best In Engineering For Agriculture, Food, and Biological Systems "Outstanding Innovation" for 1996 by ASAE The Society For Engineering In Agriculture, Food, and Biological Systems. The nozzle was showcased in the September 1996 issue of Resource magazine, published by ASAE.
The Shear Guard Plus atomizing nozzle with Dial-A-Drop technology allows the applicator to precisely dial in droplet sizes instantly on the go. Since environmental conditions and drift potentials change throughout the day and often while spraying, applicators can now adjust droplet micron size and droplet acceleration velocity during application. This will increase drift management capabilities. [The] Phase Doppler Anemometry shows a very uniform droplet size and liquid distribution compared to other nozzles.
OVER 40 Years of History! Read On...
Excerpts from Glenn W. Anderson, Associate Professor University of Guelph Department of Crop Science, regarding initial testing performed in 1961,62, and 63 on Sprafoil (Spray-Air), nozzle technology: The discovery of the increased efficiency of the atomized spray application when compared to known, conventional methods of spray application.
"Mist blowers (Air Shear Nozzles) have for many years been useful for applications of fungicides and insecticides. The introduction of a boom type mist blower has allowed some control over the direction of the spray particles, and this, along with possibility of reduced herbicide and water requirements per acre, has stimulated us to look at this method of herbicide application.
"During the summers of 1961 and 1962, we have had occasion to see the result of field scale herbicide applications with mist blowers. Observations on these fields indicated that the activity of foliar applied herbicide was increased by mist blower application compared to a more standard type of application. Phytotoxic symptoms appeared earlier or more complete kill resulted. This increased activity had the effect of destroying selectivity or reducing the rate of chemical necessary to give a desired effect. With the recommended method of application soybean leaves are slightly burned but the plants recovered. With the mist blower application the beans were killed. [This] loss of selectivity with dinitro on soybeans could be explained by more thorough coverage of all sides of bean stems, cotyledons, and leaves.
"This method of application can increase the activity of foliar applied chemicals. The selectivity of a herbicide can be changed by this method of application. Droplet size, no doubt, has a great effect on the results obtained."
Harry C. Zeisig, Jr. Gulf Research and Development Company
In discussing your unique sprayer with our people, please feel free to make reference to our past associations and the field work we did back in '62. As you recall, the outstanding results was that your [Spray-Air] sprayer doubled the efficacy of barban when compared to the standard hydraulic equipment. I, personally, am very much impressed with these results as are others in the Agriculture Chemicals Research Division.
J. Budd Tibert, L.E. Tibert Co. Voss, North Dakota
We've been getting outstanding results. Insect control has been really good. We can tell how effective it is another way - because we get the best results we have ever had killing potato vines. Both the top and bottom of the leaves are being covered. If we were to purchase another machine it would be one of this type.
J.T. Shultz, Associate Entomologist, North Dakota State University
We have tested your [air shear] field sprayer over a period of two years and would now not hesitate to recommend its use for insect control.
Our own tests prove superior coverage, including the underside of the leaf which is vital to control. Reports from some of our best farmers in the area confirm this uniformity of coverage as well as superior penetrating power. Their success in killing potato vines bears out our own observations of the improved coverage and penetration afforded by this equipment.