Spray Drift is a contentious issue amongst neighbouring farmers. Some people are still mistaken in believing that they need a nice fog of driftable droplets behind the boomspray to enable them to achieve the best weed kill.
Recent research is proving that the new Air Induction Nozzles designed to put air in each droplet of spray to increase the size of the droplet and hence reduce spray drift are performing just as well as and in some cases giving a superior weed kill than can be achieved with conventional flat fans.
It is also just as alarming to hear of people purchasing new boom sprays with the standard flat fan still fitted. There are numerous nozzles available to reduce drift, and so if purchasing a new boomspray why not take that opportunity to fit a nozzle that will increase your boomsprays performance. Another trend occurring in new boomsprays is the swing away from twin lines with operators fitting triplet nozzle turrets at 50 cm spacing. This then gives the operator the opportunity to easily use the nozzle that will allow them to spray with the droplet spectrum of their choice for the spray job at hand.
The Air Bubble Jet designed and manufactured in the United Kingdom is one such nozzle that reduces drift and is proving very popular with Australian farmers. Many farmers purchase the Air Bubble Jet solely for summer spraying so as they can use Esters safely by producing a coarse droplet as is specified on the Label for Ester use. These farmers are so impressed at the way the Air Bubble Jet reduces spray drift for them that they leave the nozzle in for all their winter spraying as well.
Many opt for a larger nozzle size for applying higher water rates when using products such as trifluralin and applying fungicides later in the season. The Air Bubble Jet also produces a very even droplet spectrum throughout the range, meaning that a .040 nozzle will produce a very similar droplet spectrum to that of a .020 nozzle. This really does give the operator the opportunity to use a water rate and droplet spectrum to suit the particular spray job at hand.