best of the last eight?
19 June 1998
Wholl be
best of the last eight?
Who is the top sprayer operator in the land? That is what the
FARMERSWEEKLY/Novartis Farm Sprayer Operator of the Year
contest aims to discover. Regional heats have been completed,
leaving just eight finalists. The winner will be announced at
12.30pm on the first day of Sprays & Sprayers
Jim Brandham
TC Shaw & Sons, Mortgrove Farm, Lilley, Luton, Beds
Jim Brandham is responsible for about two-thirds of the spraying on the all-arable Mortgrove Farm of TC Shaw & Sons at Lilley, near Luton, Beds. Mr Brandham has been spraying on the 1416 arable hectares (3500 acres) with one of two Bateman self-propelled sprayers for the past four years. He has kept up-to-speed on spraying matters by reading magazines, picking the brains of agronomists and attending the local farmers discussion and training group meetings. He hopes to extend his knowledge by taking a BASIS course in crop protection.
To aid accuracy, a locally made bout marker based around a lorry air tank is used when applying pre-emergence herbicides. Mr Brandham is keen to improve operator safety and reduce packaging waste by using a closed filling adapter he has had fitted to the induction hopper several years ago. But he cant get the appropriate returnable refillable packs.
Jon Cole
EC Drummond, The Homme, Hom Green, Ross-on-Wye
Jon Cole, a finalist last year, carries out all the spraying on the farmers weekly barometer farm of EC Drummond at The Homme, Hom Green, Ross-on-Wye. Spraying high-value crops such as onions, cauliflowers and crisping potatoes demands a sprayer and operator that has a higher-than-usual degree of flexibility and accuracy. Mr Cole has been spraying since 1987 and has adapted his sprayer to his needs.
With a lot of undulating outlying land used for potatoes he favours a heavy tread on the tyre and a lower-than-normal axle height on his two-year-old Gem 2500l (550gal) self-propelled 20m (65.5ft) boom sprayer. Wheel width changes are expedited by his own jack modification which allows wheels to be changed as front and rear pairs. A selection of Billericay bubble jets are used with great success at 125 l/ha (11gal/acre) on the various crops, including sugar beet. But for potato blight cover he favours Tee-jet twin fan nozzles.
Stephen Riches
EG Harrison, Hall Farm, Trimingham, Norwich
Stephen Riches has been spraying 592.5ha (1464 acres) of conventional arable crops, combining peas, crisping potatoes and asparagus on the farm of EG Harrison at Trimingham, near Norwich, for three years. He uses a 1987 2000l (440gal) Sands self-propelled sprayer to which he has added boomline filters to minimise the risk of nozzle blockages. To meet one of the verification requirements of a crisping potato contract, the sprayer has been tested and certificated under AEA protocol by nearby manufacturer Sands Agricultural Machinery of Stalham.
The sprayers twin boom lines carry a set of 200l/ha (18gal/acre) low drift nozzles which are used for much of the area. They are backed up by 90l/ha (8gal/acre) tips for sugar beet or 150l/ha (13.4gal/acre) standard nozzles for use in the cereals when the weather permits.
Peter Tyrrell
David Foot, East Farm, Bincombe, Weymouth, Dorset
Peter Tyrrell has been spraying the arable and grass crops of the 647ha (1600-acre) farm of David Foot, East Farm, Bincombe, near Weymouth, for 19 years. The farm has some very steep land, but a Gem Slimline 1100l (242gal) sprayer mounted on a 110hp MF6170 copes with it well. Having a lot of grass to spray means a blob marker is essential, especially as sighting points are often over the horizon, while a retrofitted boom-end nozzle allows thistle control along the fence lines in the grazing fields.
Not many operators have spray records dating back to 1980 to hand, but Mr Woodley has kept them in book form over this time. They have now been transferred to the farm computer as well. Great care is taken when rinsing out and thoroughly draining pesticide containers before they are stored under cover ahead of burning on a smoke-free hot fire. He feels translucent packs would make the rinsing much easier.
Paul Woodley
Wasing Farm Partnership, Wasing, Reading, Berks
Paul Woodley has 17 years spraying experience with the Wasing Farm Partnership at Wasing, near Reading. With conventional winter crops, peas, beans, hemp, forage maize and grass in the rotation, and when covering 2500-4000ha (8650-9884 acres) each year with fertiliser and agrochemical applications, a speedy turnaround is vital.
An Atlas Airtec sprayer was chosen for its output, streamlined with a PonyFlow meter when filling with water since this ensures the correct amount of spraymix for the 80 and 100l/ha (7 and 9gal/acre) applications used most of the time. The sprayer is filled on a concrete pad alongside the high-level water supply and chemical store. This ensures that any contaminated water is collected in an underground tank for later safe disposal.
Ben Turpin
John Brand & Sons, Brook Hall, Foxearth, Sudbury
Ben Turpin covers 3339ha (8250 acres) of agrochemical spraying on the 770ha (1902-acre) Brook Hall Farm of John Brand and Sons, Foxearth, near Sudbury, Suffolk. One of two finalists using an Airtec sprayer, Mr Turpin finds he gets good productivity working at 75l/ha (6.7gal/acre) for most of his work. In taller, denser crops he puts the rate up to 100l/ha (9gal/acre), unless the label demands more.
These rates are achieved, along with the required spray quality, by varying the air pressure in the No 40 restrictors while travelling at 13km/h (8mph), but he slows down if extra crop penetration is needed. Water protection is important because the farm water supply comes from a borehole, and Mr Turpin carries a list of products with 6m no-spray restrictions in the cab. He also avoids excess spray mix by using a PonyFlow meter when filling the tank with water.
Nicholas Craggs
G & * Cholmely, Home Farm, Winteringham, Malton, N Yorks
Nicholas Craggs has been spraying some 8094ha (20,000 acres) of arable land each year for the past seven years on the Andercourt-managed Home Farm of G & * Cholmely at Winteringham, near Malton, North Yorkshire. Covering this area needs both capacity and power. A one-year-old 3000l (660gal) Househam Imp with 200hp engine provides these for agrochemical and liquid fertiliser applications on the farms hilly fields.
Unique to this enterprise is a nozzle for every job – 13 sets in all – from standard and low drift 02 to 08 and on to twin fan and bubble jet. A set of DriftBeta air inclusion jets may shortly be added. Twin spray lines allow low drift and standard tips to be on call if the weather changes when out in the field and an easy change to liquid fertiliser when necessary.
David Calvert
Huntlaw Farm, Pencaitland, Tranent, Edinburgh
David Calvert ventured into spraying just a few years ago on the 270ha (677acre) farm of Drew Cadzon at Huntlaw Farm, Pencaitland, near Edinburgh, after taking an agricultural degree. On advice from his crop chemical adviser Mr Calvert uses a 200l/ha (18gal/acre) medium-quality spray for all his applications. This has the advantage of requiring just one set of nozzles, speed and pressure settings. But he does calibrate his manually controlled Gem 2.2 self-tracking trailed sprayer to match the traction differences caused by the heavy and light soils on different parts of the farm.
For safety when filling his sprayer, a convenient table at induction hopper height is set alongside the high level water storage tank and chemical store. When spraying is over he can use a redundant farm boiler fire with 60ft chimney for safe disposal of rinsed and drained pesticide packs.