Before You Spray: 3 Things That Could Cost You Money This Season

Tom Wolf opened with the frame that carried the session: doing the right thing at the right time. Take away the right time part and the right thing is irrelevant. Spraying has changed dramatically -- operators who used to make two passes a year now make three to five, and the equipment cost running at roughly $400 an hour means every minute away from spraying is measurable. The first section covered water quality, built around five numbers from a standard water test. Darren Sander opened with the operator's version of the lesson: Crop-Aid's farm pulls from a cold well at 1,200 TDS, so they tank it into black poly storage and spray from the warmest tank first. Cold water hurts efficacy -- especially glufosinate. Tom then walked through pH (most mixes fine; what matters is the final mix pH, not source pH), TDS and conductivity (under 500 is clean; most Prairie wells come in over 1,000; the number tells you whether to look further), bicarbonates (500 ppm is the threshold; above it, ammonium sulfate is the most versatile fix), total hardness (calcium carbonate equivalent; Jeff Bennett's water had very low hardness but elevated sodium, which still antagonizes glyphosate and glufosinate), and turbidity (aluminum sulfate as a flocculant for dugouts; stir and leave 24 to 48 hours). Jeff's live water test from Agvise became the worked example. Tom's verdict: low hardness, elevated sodium, ammonium sulfate recommended. The coverage section opened with a number that reframed the whole conversation: according to a Mesonet researcher in North Dakota, 100 percent of nights in the state experience thermal inversions. Some are worse than others, but the baseline is total. Under an inversion, fine droplets go where they want -- downhill if there is topography, anywhere if there is not. Tom's prescription: start on the downwind side of the field, spray perpendicular to the wind, turn into the headwind on every pass. Never spray down and then back against the wind. The droplet size discussion followed: coarser nozzles, deployed early in Canada before most countries, allowed operators to spray in slightly windier conditions without adding drift risk. Air induction tips are the go-to for general spraying. Spray pressure -- as low as 30 psi for AI tips -- adjusts droplet size one category in either direction. Water sensitive paper laid on the ground is the cheapest coverage check available. On water volume, Tom's position was direct: more is better. Complex tank mixes behave better with more water. More water allows coarser droplets without losing coverage. Later-season applications -- PGRs, fungicides, desiccants -- want 10 to 15 gallons per acre. Cutting back on water to improve logistics is a trade with a real cost. The logistics section brought Jay Peterson into the conversation. He runs a 1,600-gallon machine with a 120-foot boom and a dedicated water truck driver. His fill times on easy mixes: seven to nine minutes on three-inch plumbing. Complex mixes with dry products that need to hydrate: 15 minutes. Tom confirmed those numbers are right. The tendering revolution changed spraying fundamentally: a 30-minute fill is now a five-minute fill, which means filling is the stressful moment and spraying is the calm one. Continuous rinsing systems collapsed a three-quarter-hour triple rinse down to five minutes. Tom's recommended exercise: when the sprayer engine is running, write down what you're doing if you're not spraying. Data entry, monitor troubleshooting, looking for a menu -- every one of those is a round you did not spray. The session closed on the same line it opened with: an important job is worth doing well. Key Topics The five water quality numbers: pH (final mix matters more than source), TDS/conductivity (500 clean threshold), bicarbonates (500 ppm action threshold), total hardness (calcium carbonate equivalent), turbidity (aluminum sulfate flocculant) Ammonium sulfate as the most versatile water conditioner -- binds hard water cations AND improves herbicide uptake Warm water and spray efficacy: glufosinate works significantly better with warm water; Darren Sander's black poly tank system Thermal inversions: 100% of nights in North Dakota are inverted; fine droplets go where they want under inversion Spray direction strategy: downwind start, perpendicular to wind, headwind turns on every pass Coarser nozzles and Canada's early adoption: air induction tips as the go-to for general spraying; pressure adjusts droplet size Water volume: why cutting back hurts complex tank mixes, coverage flexibility, and late-season applications Sprayer logistics and the tendering revolution: three-inch plumbing, five-minute fills, continuous rinsing systems Time accounting: write down what you're doing when the engine is running but you're not spraying Foam management: turn off agitator while filling; Halt defoamer for high-salt tank mixes Resources Mentioned Sprayers 101 -- sprayers101.com (Tom Wolf, Dr. Jason DeVos) Crop-Aid Nutrition -- cropaidnutrition.com (Darren Sander) Spray Water Cheat Sheet -- Tom Wolf / Crop-Aid co-branded, distributed to all registrants Agvise Labs -- water testing (Jeff Bennett's water test source) ALS Labs, Saskatoon -- water testing Saskatchewan Research Council (Innovation Place, Saskatoon) -- water testing Nozzle Ninja, Stettler AB -- nozzle parts, mail order (nozzleninja.com) Agri Auto, Saskatoon -- nozzle parts, expanded store north end Water sensitive paper -- available at Agri Auto Saskatoon and Nozzle Ninja Halt defoamer -- high-salt tank mix defoamer (Darren Sander recommendation) Aluminum sulfate -- dugout turbidity flocculant; source via municipalities or water treatment suppliers ClearTech -- aluminum sulfate supplier (mentioned by Mike Green in chat) Connect Sprayers 101 -- sprayers101.com (click Tom Wolf name at bottom of page) Crop-Aid Nutrition -- cropaidnutrition.com growingthefuture.ca Register for the Convergence Conference at convergence.ag and stay updated by subscribing to the Growing the Future Podcast at growingthefuturepodcast.ca.