—Lancaster Farming, Saturday, April 9, 1977
90
Granular pesticides preferred
MARIETTA, Pa. - Last year Dave and Dwight Hess made
two significant changes in applying their herbicides that they
claim is faster, more efficient, and requires much less fuss.
They are now applying granular herbicides and insuring
their effectiveness through incorporation.
“In the past, we have used surface applied materials and
usually bad good control, however it is possible for control to
slip when it is too dry after application,’’ says Dwight, the
younger of the two brothers. “We are particularly happy that
we started incorporating this year since there was a dry spell
after planting. Because of it, some fanners who used pre
emergence surface applied herbicides got caught with some
early weed problems, but we got pretty good early control.”
When a herbicide is applied before planting and in
corporated, the net result is good weed control when it is
needed most; at the time the crop starts growing. In
corporation adds the extra insurance that the chemical will
be uniformly mixed into the soil at the right time and at the
right depth for maximum performance.
“Weather conditions seem to play a big role in a her
bicide’s performance,” notes Dwight. “Take wind for
example: if it’s windy at planting time - and it was real windy
this year - it can hold up spraying or cause bad drifting
problems. This is especially true in custom application where
the spray booms are high off the ground. However, because
of granular chemicals, we didn’t have any problems with
wind-dnft this year,” Dwight points out.
According to this young Lancaster County grower,
granular applications are the most convenient way to go.
During planting he can incorporate 20 acres before refilling
the applicator boxes, and it only takes five minutes to refill.
All you have to do is open the bag, pour it in the box, and go -
no mixing to do, no water to haul, and no nozzle clogging
problems. Maintainance is easier with a granular applicator
too, especially clean-out. In fact, due to the ease of operation
with this present set-up, the Hesses did some custom work for
several area farmers.
The Hesses have a 14 foot Gandy applicator which mounts
in front of a disc harrow for incorporation. This equipment,
like many other applicators, is versatile and can be used for
granular herbicide and insecticide applications as well as
small grain seeding. Furthermore, it can be used in many
different cropping situations since there is a granular her
bicide program for most crops. Two such granular programs
are used on the Hess farm - in com and tomdloes.
The majority of the 225 acre farmland is planted in com,
much of which is double cropped with small grains, to be
used as feed in their steer finishing operation. Due to the
present high cost of cattle feed, the brothers strive for a high
yield, so effective weed control is essential.
By incorporating granular herbicides, they aren’t held up
by weather variables as much at planting - and a timely
planting is also essential if high yields are to be realized. In
this regard, the brothers have streamlined many of their pre
planting operations.
“We like to fall chisel plow as much of our land as
possible,” Dwight explains. “We find this helps speed up
planting; only the sod land is spring plowed. After plowing,
all our land is disced twice, and on the second discing we are
incorporating the herbicides.”
A granular combination of Sutan with atrazine (18-6 G) was
used for the first time this past year on the Hess farm. They
used 17 pounds per acre, incorporated two inches deep - half
the depth the disc to insure uniformity of incorporation and to
finish the seed bed prior to planting.
Field preparation was similar for tomatoes. For weed
control 40 pounds of Tillam 10-G was applied per acre pre
transplant and incorporated. “The Gandy showed its ver
satility in tomatoes,” Dwight reports. “We also made an
overlay treatment of granular Amiben, with the applicator
mounted on the cultivator.
“We view this first year of using granulars as a learning
experience,” concludes Dwight, “we now know many of the
dos and don’ts - like don’t let the applicator get damp inside.
Dwight Hess of Marietta double crops corn with
small grains to be used as feed in their steer
finishing operation.
In the final analysis we are pleased with the granular
program, we feel it’s the way to go.”