It helps to review your farm inputs and outputs to identify areas to maximise your productivity in the paddock.

Knowing what inputs you make (for example, chemicals, fuel, fertilisers and maintenance costs) and their impact on your output (yield) is an important first step in identifying areas for improvement and for knowing what things can produce real gains in productivity.

Find out more

For more information go to Module 6: Pre-operational checks.

Carefully consider your product choices and their application requirements

It is important to have regular discussions with advisers and consultants about what products are available to you, what works well in your area and what recent research suggests. Always try to make evidence-based decisions: do your own homework on what you have been told. Try to simplify spray mixtures where possible and only mix products which are both physically and biologically compatible. Avoid unnecessary use of adjuvants (typically where needed they will be stated on the product label).

Consider the things you should know or understand about the products you want to apply.

• Their modes of action, translocation and uptake of the products you use.

• What are the volume/coverage requirements and recommended adjuvants for each product.

• Water quality requirements for each product.

• Compatibility and mixing requirements, as well as mixing order.

• Agitation and solubility requirements (especially for powders, water-dispersible granules, water conditioners).

• Filtration requirements of the various products and their impact on some components of the sprayer.

• Spray quality (water volume and droplet size) required for the product or tank mix.

• Label restraints (no-spray zones) and sensitive areas for each product.

• Economics (short-term cost versus longer-term goals, for example, resistance management).

• Operator and farm occupant safety.

Tips

• When a compromise is made, understand how this may impact product performance. For example, assuming adequate coverage, glyphosate efficacy is optimised when using a large (e.g. VC spray quality) and concentrated droplet (e.g. 50-60 L/ha spray volume), with a non-spreading water based adjuvant which will be included in a quality formulation.

• By comparison, Group 14 herbicides work best with good coverage (e.g. M-C spray quality and 80-100L/ha spray volume) and an oil-based adjuvant system.

• Any tank mixing of these modes of action will therefore require one product to be compromised.

Find out more

For more information go to Module 2: Product requirements.