The wrong adjuvant can be an expensive extra, but the right adjuvant can be a vital component and incredibly beneficial to the crop protection programme. Learn more about adjuvant technology, how to get the most from it, and how it can help farmers maximise crop spraying success by downloading our new Adjuvant Technology magazine.
On this page you can download specific articles or the full magazine.
Adjuvant topics in this issue:
- Issues at spraying
- Adjuvant solutions
- Tools for sustainability
- Backup with Backrow Max
- Keep going with Kantor
- How to avoid a tank-mixing disaster and role of adjuvants
- Buying time with adjuvants
- Flexibility cultivates success
Welcome to our adjuvant technology magazine
It’s no secret that agriculture finds itself in both an exciting and challenging era. For several years now, getting more from less has been the theme – whether that be land, capital or crop production and protection products — challenging many to think creatively about how they approach operations and decision-making. When it comes to chemistry, this has pushed partner products like adjuvants into the spotlight – which have long been aids to growers to help optimise efficiency in the spray tank.
When used correctly, adjuvants have the potential to perform a variety of valuable functions – as highlighted in the farmer stories and research trials in the pages that follow.
Not only do these functions – such as enhancing spray coverage and balancing complex tank-mixes – make sense for the bottom line but also form an integral part of the strategy as many farmers seek to move towards a more sustainable way of farming. So much so that work has shown that partnering crop protection sprays with the right adjuvant can add as much as 40% efficacy and over 1t/ha yield in a challenging situation.
This notion of getting more from less is only likely to continue, meaning it’s more important than ever to make use of all the tools in the toolbox – with adjuvants being among those which have the potential to make a huge difference.
Adjuvant solutions
The right tank mix adjuvant can help maximise success.
Vital components or expensive extras? The use of adjuvants dates back to the 70s. But despite their long heritage, adjuvants are sometimes dismissed as “muck and magic” – regardless of the fact that the right adjuvant when used correctly, can be an incredibly beneficial partner in the crop protection programme.
Tools for sustainability
In a quest to achieve long-term sustainability, deploying a range of techniques – from precision farming to using adjuvants – is proving to be key for Peter Cartwright, farm manager at Revesby Estate in Lincolnshire.
Backup with adjuvant Backrow Max
With residual herbicide performance at risk from unpredictable weather and challenging application conditions, incorporating an adjuvant into the mix can be a valuable tool within the IPM strategy to help optimise pre-emergence performance and minimise resistance.
Keep going with adjuvant Kantor
Challenging weather, suboptimal spraying conditions and tank-mix incompatibility can all put added pressure on spraying workload, reducing its efficacy over time. Though these stress factors are often out of the hands of growers, incorporating an adjuvant can help reduce the impact.
How to avoid a tank mixing disaster
With catchy weather windows often forcing growers to put bigger, more complex mixes in the tank, careful preparation is key to avoid a disaster.
Buying time with adjuvants
With high value, comes high risk, something Will Parrott knows all too well. Will is operations manager at Springhill Farm – part of Evesham Vale Growers – in Worcestershire. The farm is home to a crop fed anaerobic digester and is the UK’s third largest grower
of salad onions with a total area of production stretching upwards of 1,600ha (4,000 acres) annually. In addition, as a group, they supply almost a fifth of the total UK market for tomatoes, 52 weeks of the year – supplying both supermarkets and wholesale customers.
Flexibility cultivates success
In an industry where change is the only constant and resilience in the face of adversity is becoming more and more crucial to long-term sustainability, one inspiring young farmer in Darlington has found flexibility is the key to managing risk and maximising success – with adjuvants playing a pivotal role in the strategy.
Download the full magazine
You can DOWNLOAD THE FULL MAGAZINE HERE
If you require further information or have technical questions regarding adjuvant technology and the information in this magazine that you wish to discuss, please get in touch with our technical manager Stuart Sutherland, below.