Fodder Farmers, Applicators, Supervisors and PCAs! Do you need continuing education credits for your license renewal? Or do you just want to increase your knowledge on your air blast sprayer? If so, then I have something for you!

UC Cooperative Extension, UCIPM, and the Spray Application Pest Management Alliance Team, with support from California's Department of Pesticide Regulation (DPR) Pest Management Alliance grants program, have developed a comprehensive online course for calibrating air blast sprayers!

Co-authored by myself and my colleague Franz Niederholzer, UCCE Farm Advisor in Colusa/Sutter/Yuba counties, this unique course is for anyone involved in spray decision making in perennial crops (trees and vines). Calibration is the process of setting up, maintaining, and rechecking a desired spray volume, measured in gallons per acre.  It is the basis for a safe and effective pesticide application and is used by every grower-conventional to organic-who uses pesticides in their crop to help manage pests.  

The interactive course, developed by UCIPM online course design experts Petr Kosina and Cheryl Reynolds, is presented in narrated text, photos, video clips and animation to engage you!  You will learn the basic principles of spray calibration, review the basic components of a sprayer, perform calculations needed for calibration, and take a look at how factors such as droplet size, nozzle type, and weather conditions influence drift and spray coverage. This course also explains the conditions for pesticide applications under the 2018 Pesticide Use Near Schoolsites regulation.

 

 

 

The course is organized into 5 modules:

1. Why proper calibration is critical for your operation's success.
2. Equipment: Parts of an axial fan* air blast sprayer.
3. The calibration formula-how to measure the variables and do the math.
4. Spray drift: droplet size, fan speed, weather, and how to manage.
5. Spray team communication.

 *We are working on a venturi (air-shear) sprayer module option which should be available soon.

• 2.5 California DPR CE credits have been approved (2.0 other, 0.5 laws).  You must complete all of the course modules and pass the final exam with at least 70% to receive your CEUs.

With the support of DPR's Pest Management Alliance grants, this course is now available for FREE, until December 31, 2020.

You must have an account first in eXtension campus (available without

charge).  Create a new account or simply use your existing Google or Microsoft account for login.