AgroPages-WinField United: new findings in the fight against dicamba drift-Agricultural news

New research from the WinField United Innovation Center reinforces and broadens findings from earlier this year regarding the control of fine particle drift.

First, WinField United researchers recently discovered that even if a drift reduction adjuvant (DRA) is included in the spray tank, flexible, bubble-like membranes called "bags" are created. Once these bags leave the spray nozzle and hit a crosswind in the field, they break, creating many fine droplets that can easily drift where they shouldn't. WinField United calls this phenomenon bag breakup.

After identifying this occurrence, researchers found that InterLock adjuvant disrupts the formation of these flexible bags so that bag breakup is less likely to occur.

Foundational findings

Earlier this year, WinField United reported on research that showed including InterLock adjuvant in the spray tank helps control fine particle drift that DRAs alone cannot. Researchers discovered that including both InterLock adjuvant and a DRA in the tank, along with a water conditioner, reduced driftable fines by 60%.

"Bag breakup is an established term within the fluid mechanics community, but not so much in the ground application realm," said Lillian Magidow, senior research manager, product development, WinField United. "Originally, we used a standard testing method in the lab, that does not not incorporate the crosswind a spray would experience in the field. When we tested in a crosswind, which is closer to what's happening in the field, we saw this 'bag' phenomenon and later, how InterLock disrupts its creation. This is something we didn't encounter using our original standard testing method."

What this means for farmers

Bottom line, farmers should still include a DRA in the spray tank, which improves spray quality. And even with a DRA, there are always going to be fine droplets that come along with spray applications. However, adding InterLock to the tank further optimizes that spray application for both dicamba and non-dicamba herbicides.