Anyone have any data on spraying fungicide with ground rig vs airplane?

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The costs are obviously very different but the other factor to consider is spray volume needed to control the disease.  Some products such as fungicides used for Fusarium Head Blight control in wheat need great coverage on the plant and 10 gpa spray volume is recommended.  You can't get that high of a spray volume with aerial apps. If a 2-4 gpa spray volume will get you effective control of the disease of interest, and the cost of the aerial app is reasonable for you, then aerial app might be preferred. I wouldn't apply contact fungicides through aerial applications since the coverage on all tissue will be less and those products do not translocate through the plant.  For systemic fungicides that do translocate through the plant, the low spray volume is more acceptable since coverage on all leaf tissue will be less than ideal.  If you have questions about specific crops or products you can always get a free consultation from our FBN Senior Agronomists by calling or texting 605-223-4224.

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I am not a fan of planes because of the water rate. I wonder though if the application height makes a difference. With a sprayer in corn you are going to be right over the plant and not contact as many points? The newer fungicides translocate far better than older chemistries from my knowledge

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I agree. The spray volumes are very low by air, even for the newer chemistry. Some labels recommend nozzles facing forward and backward on ground rigs to improve coverage even at 10 GPA.

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I just bought a Miller 4275 and they tell me I will be able to go over tasseled corn. It has about 6ft 3in of clearance. Trying to decide if I should run 10gpa or 20gpa. And considering putting drops on with twin tips that spray up and down in between the rows.

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We spray all of our corn and soybeans with a ground rig.  The coverage on corn at 16 gal per acre imo is much better than a plane and I cover the whole field.  I have capstan on my Hagie also so we are using boundary control and not spraying waterways which is also cost saving.
 We can apply a field during the correct application window also in most cases rather than waiting in line and possibly missing that application window.
Also the cost per acre is in house rather than paying a plane or helicopter which is also plus.

USA

Call (844) 200-FARM

Anyone have any data on spraying fungicide with ground rig vs airplane?

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