Safety

National Pesticide Telecommunications Network (NPTN) -- A Toll-Free Information Service

Have you ever wanted a source of objective pesticide information or a place to refer your clients? Have you ever wondered or been asked the following questions: Is it dangerous to use pesticides for insect control if I am pregnant or have small children? What is the persistence of the chemicals used on my lawn for weed control? Will they contaminate my well? Could this old bottle of liquid I found in the garage be a pesticide? If you have had these questions and longed for a place to call, the National Pesticide Telecommunications Network (NPTN) may be a useful resource for you!

NPTN is a toll-free information service sponsored cooperatively by Oregon State University and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. NPTN provides objective, science-based information about a wide variety of pesticide-related subjects including: pesticide products, pesticide poisonings, toxicology, and environmental chemistry.

NPTN is open to questions from the public and professionals. It is staffed by highly qualified and trained pesticide specialists who have the toxicology and environmental chemistry training needed to provide knowledgeable answers to questions about pesticides. Pesticide specialists can help callers interpret and understand toxicology and environmental chemistry information about pesticides.

NPTN receives more than 2000 calls per month. Most callers are homeowners concerned about their family's health when pesticides are being used in and around their home (e.g. for control of ants, termites, fleas, or garden and lawn pests). NPTN can provide information on the pesticides used in these situations and methods to reduce exposure. While NPTN does not make recommendations about which pesticides to use for control of pests, NPTN can direct callers to local resources for products available in their area.

If people call with pesticide emergencies, NPTN can connect them directly with the Oregon Poison Control Center or the National Animal Poison Control Center. NPTN can also direct callers for pesticide incident investigations, safety practices, clean-up and disposal, and laboratory analyses.

NPTN uses a variety of information sources such as EPA documents, USDA Cooperative Extension publications, the scientific literature, and a pesticide product database. Information is available at no-cost over the phone and non-copyrighted materials can be mailed or faxed for a nominal fee. Information is also available through the NPTN World Wide Web site at: http://ace.orst.edu/info/nptn/

NPTN can be reached 6:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Pacific Time, Monday through Friday, excluding holidays. Saturday and Sunday service will begin in Spring 1997. Telephone: 1-800-858-7378. Fax: 1-541-737-0761. Email:nptn@ace.orst.edu

Equipment

Selecting the Right Tip for a Spraying Job

Selecting spray tips used to be very limited -- you typically had a choice of flat fan or flood tips, and from those you'd select the right size and start spraying.

Fortunately, a wide array of spray tips are available for any type of crop protection product application. Selecting the right tip for your spraying job is easy if you take a few minutes to follow these steps.

What type of product will you be spraying?

The nozzle you need for a pre-plant incorporated herbicide application is likely to be very different from what you need for a post-emerge fungicide application. The following general guidelines will help you narrow down your options. Remember, always check the recommendations on the product label before making any application.

Soil-applied, pre-plant, or pre-plant incorporated herbicides are typically applied using relatively large droplets across a wide range of carrier volumes. Drift and uniformity are concerns, but complete target coverage is not as important as in post-emerge applications.

Best choice: Turbo Flood and Fulljet. Standard flood tips, extended-range or pre-orifice (DG) fan tips may be used at lower pressures.

Soil-applied, pre-emerge herbicides have similar application requirements. Full cone or Turbo TeeJet tips are recommended for best results, but flat fan tips such as extended range flat fan and drift guard nozzles may be used at lower pressures to reduce drift potential. For banded applications, use extended range flat fan or twin orifice even flat-spray nozzles.

Post-emerge systemic herbicides, insecticides and fungicides may require caution because of potential off-target drift (both physical drift and vapor drift). Coverage is not as critical as with contact herbicides. Excellent nozzle types for these applications are Turbo TeeJet, DG, or XR TeeJet tips. In banded or directed applications, use TeeJet even flat spray tips.

Post-emerge contact herbicides, insecticides and fungicides require excellent coverage of the treated surfaces. The small droplets created by TwinJet tips or extended-range and standard flat fan tips at higher pressures, are good for these applications. Cone tips are recommended for directed or banded applications of insecticides and herbicides: Disc-Core nozzles are well-suited for use with contact fungicides and insecticides.

What are the limitations of your sprayer?

When selecting spray tips, make sure they are matched to the capacity of the sprayer. For example, if you want to apply high carrier volumes at a high pressure, make sure your pump and other plumbing has the capacity to deliver the required volumes. See your spraying equipment retailer for more information on matching components of your spraying system.

Are you using a sprayer control?

Sprayer controls do an outstanding job of automatically ensuring accurate application, but they may place more demands on your spray tips. For best results with a sprayer control, use tips that maintain spray coverage across a wide pressure range. An excellent choice is the extended range tip. Another good choice is the turbo teejet tips, which can operate at spray pressures from 15-90 psi. They are ideally suited for use with sprayer controls but they produce larger drops than an equal size extended range tip.

What does the product label recommend?

Reading and following product label instructions is perhaps the most important aspect of spray tip selection. Label instructions may contain tested, proven recommendations on spray tips, pressure and carrier volume, along with other useful application information. Because labels are frequently updated, read the entire label every season -- even for products you've used in the past.

What does the spray tip manufacturer recommend?

When selecting a spray tip for a particular application, check the nozzle manufacturer's literature for recommended procedures. Follow all nozzle selection guidelines and check the flow from every tip, even if they are new. This flow rate check will ensure precise application.

-----------------------------------------------------------
				Herbicides			
	    --------------------------------------------- 
		Soil	      Pre-	 Post-Emergence
	    Incorporated    Emergence  Contact	 Systemic 
----------------------------------------------------------
Turbo	      Excellent	    Excellent	Good	 Excellent	
TeeJet Wide
Angle Flat 
Spray Tip
----------------------------------------------------------
Extended	Good	    Excellent	Good	 Excellent
Range Flat		    at lower		 at lower	
Spray Tip		    pressure		 pressure	
----------------------------------------------------------
Standard		      Good	Good	   Good	  
Flat Spray Tip
----------------------------------------------------------
Drift Guard   Excellent	    Excellent		 Excellent
Flat Spray Tip
----------------------------------------------------------
TwinJet			              Excellent			
Flat Spray
----------------------------------------------------------
Turbo	      Excellent	    Excellent		 Excellent
FloodJet
Wide Angle
Flat Spray Tip
----------------------------------------------------------
FullJet	      Excellent	    Excellent
Wide Angle
Full Cone Tip
----------------------------------------------------------
Source: Spray Systems Co., Bulletin No. 423




----------------------------------------------------------
		Fungicides		Insecticides
	    --------------------    --------------------
	    Contact	Systemic      Contact	Systemic
----------------------------------------------------------
Turbo	    	       Excellent		Excellent
TeeJet Wide
Angle Flat 
Spray Tip
----------------------------------------------------------
Extended    Excellent  Excellent      Good	Excellent
Range Flat	       at lower		        at lower
Spray Tip	       pressure		        pressure
----------------------------------------------------------
Standard      Good		      Good
Flat Spray Tip
----------------------------------------------------------
Drift Guard            Excellent		Excellent
Flat Spray Tip
----------------------------------------------------------
TwinJet		                    Excellent
Flat Spray
----------------------------------------------------------
Turbo	               Excellent		Excellent
FloodJet
Wide Angle
Flat Spray Tip
----------------------------------------------------------
FullJet	      
Wide Angle
Full Cone Tip
----------------------------------------------------------
Source: Spray Systems Co., Bulletin No. 423

(Submitted by: Vern Hofman, Agricultural Engineer)

Meeting

Pest Management Field School at Carrington

The North Dakota State University Extension Service will conduct a pest management field school on Wednesday, June 25 at the NDSU Carrington Research Extension Center. This is an advanced school for individuals who advise farmers on pest management, including crop consultants, agronomists, extension agents and agricultural chemical dealers and industry representatives. The objective of the program is to provide practical and timely information for crop advisers to enhance their skills in weed, insect, and disease management.

The Field School's agenda will include weed identification, herbicide mode-of-action and crop injury diagnosis, insect identification and management of European corn borer, Colorado potato beetle, and orange wheat blossom midge, disease identification and management of various small grain and specialty crop diseases, a tour of pest management research trials, and "Pest Jeopardy."

Field School details and registration forms can be obtained by contacting Greg Endres, area extension agronomist, at the Carrington center (telephone 701-652-2951; FAX 701-652-2055; e-mail gendres@ndsuext.nodak.edu). Preregistration by submitting a completed registration form and a $25 fee by June 16 is required. Participation will be limited to the first 50 registrants. CEU credits for the Certified Crop Adviser program will be available for school participants.