Calibrating Your Orchard Sprayer

Authors

Brent Black, Utah State UniversityFollow
Earl Seeley, Private Orchard Consultant

Document Type

Factsheet

Publisher

Utah State University Extension

Publication Date

7-2020

First Page

1

Last Page

3

Abstract

The costs of fungicides, miticides, insecticides, foliar nutrients, wetting agents and plant growth regulators continue to increase. For a full spray program on apples, for example, the cost of spray materials alone could cost $800 to $1700 per acre per year. A poorly calibrated sprayer applying an average of 10% more material than intended, directly increases production costs by $80 to $170 per acre. Nozzles on sprayers wear out over time, and flow rates increase as nozzles wear, with worn nozzles eventually increasing flow rates by 10% or more. Financially sound management requires carefully calibrating orchard sprayers to optimize the benefits from applying spray materials.

Recommended Citation

Black, Brent and Seeley, Earl, "Calibrating Your Orchard Sprayer" (2020). All Current Publications. Paper 667.
https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/extension_curall/667