A42-Lancaster Fanning, Saturday, April 20,1985
NEWARK, DE Applying
granular soil insecticides with a
corn planter has become standard
practice, although they’re not
always necessary.
Apparently, farmers who use
these mateials are wasting a lot of
money by not calibrating their
insecticide applicators, says
University of Delaware extension
agricultural engineer Tom
Williams, citing a spring, 1984,
field study.
The study reported accuracy
was very poor.
Less than one-third of the 375
units on the 50 planters tested wer°
USD A sets food aid totals
WASHINGTON - The U.S.
Department of Agriculture has
revised country and commodity
allocations for fiscal 1985.
Under Secretary of Agriculture
Daniel G. Amstutz said current
program plans provide for
distribution of $1011.9 million in
commodity shipments this fiscal
year, changed from the previous
estimate of $1053.6 million. Of the
current amount, $927.5 million is
allocated and $84.4 million is being
held in reserve to furnish com
modities for unforseen needs
during the remainder of the fiscal
year. There has been a recent
transfer of $4O million for the Title
I/111 program to Title II to help
assure adepate funding for
meeting food needs in Africa.
Amstutz said there has been an
increase in the allocation for
Mozabique and Peru. Ecuador has
been identified for an allocation,
and minor quantity changes were
made in some countries.
The revised allocations meet the
legal requirement that not less
than 75 percent of food aid com
modities be allocated to friendly
countries that meet the In
ternational Development
Association poverty criterion. The
countries in this category are those
with an annual per capita gross
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Corn planters poor at applying granular insecticides
within plus or minus 10 percent of
the target amount. Nearly half
were overapplying materials by
more than 20 percent, while one out
of four was underapplying by more
than 20 percent. The worst case
was a 389 percent overapplication
rate. That would make the in
secticide cost nearly four times
more than it should, or about $5O
per acre.
“Given today’s slim crop profit
margins,” Williams says, “far
mers can’t afford that wasteful
cost. The magazine estimates such
application errors are costing
national product of $790 or less.
Amstutz said the program takes
into account such variables as
available commodities and budget
in the United States and par
ticipating countries; changing
economic and foreign policy
situtations, including human rights
assessments; potential for market
development; fluctuations in
commodity prices; availability of
handling, storage and disltribution
facilities; and possible disin
centives to local production.
Except for agreements already
signed, these allocations represent
neither final U.S. commitments
nor agreements with participating
governments. Situations still may
develop which could cause further
changes in country and commodity
allocations, Amstutz said.
The program is designed to
promote exports of agricultural
commodities from the United
States and to foster economic
development in recipient coun
tries It provides loans of up to 40
years, with a grace period of up to
10 years and low interest rates.
It also provides for the
forgiveness of the debt incurred,
based on accomplishments in food
for development programs and
projects agreed upon by the United
States and recipient countries.
Recent study shows:
farmers at least $lO an acre.
Earlier field studies have also
shown poor applicator accuracy
with granular insecticides.”
The reason for such error and
expense is that farmers are simply
not calibrating their applicators,
the engineer says. Only two of the
farmers surveyed had calibrated
during the season. Most had never
calibrated.
“Calibration is not difficult or
time-consuming and it can save a
lot of money,” Williams says, “All
you have to do is collect the output
from each applicator over a
measured distance and weigh the
results, make adjustments, and
repeat until all units are putting
out equally.”
It’s essential to check each row
unit because they’ll probably all be
different. Eighty percent of the
units in the study had more than 20
percent row-to-row variability.
Only 4 percent varied from row to
row by less than 10 percent of the
target amount.
About half were over and half
under the target range, so on the
average things would seem to even
out. However, this is not the case,
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the engineer says, because nearly
half the applicators tested were off
by more than 50 percent.
“The indicators on applicator
flow adjusters aren’t that
precise,” he explains. “If you set
them all the same without
calibrating, they probably won’t
put out equally. The setting
recommended by the equipment or
insecticide manufacturer is just a
place to start when you calibrate.”
Application rate depends on size
of meter opening, speed of rotor of
agitator, travel speed, field
roughness and flowability of
granules. Flowability is deter
mined by the type of granule, its
size and density, as well as by
temperature and humidity. That’s
why each pesticide and field
condition requires a different
setting.
Ground speed is another im
portant factor affecting ap
plication rate, so calibrate under
field conditions at normal planting
speed.
Some insecticide manufacturers
provide calibration tubes that can
be used to collect the output from
the applicator. Output is then
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measured on a volume basis. It’s
still a good idea to weigh the output
from each row when calibrating,
Williams says, because tem
perature, moisture and packing
can change the volume.
Label recommendations are
usually given in ounces of material
per 1,000 feet of row, regardless of
row width. To calibrate, collect the
material from each row unit for 200
feet and weigh each sample. Use a
postal or food scale that measures
small amounts accurately m
ounces. The application rate per
1,000 feet of row will be five times
the measured weight. Compare
this figure with the recommneded
rate.
Subtract the weight of collection
containers when weighing sam
ples. When using plastic bags,
since each batch of bags will weigh
the same, just average the weight
of a few bags once to get the
container weight.
“Calibrate often as conditions
and materials change, so that your
application accuracy stays within
10 percent of the intended rate and
your production costs stay
reasonable,” Williams says.
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