Two Tanks, One Goal: Smarter Weed Control Strategies

COLTON FULLER AND DR. LARRY STECKEL

JACKSON, TENNESSEE

The use of precision agricultural technologies is rapidly advancing in row crop production. The latest of these technologies includes the introduction of ground sprayers that utilize AI technology for making targeted pesticide applications. The goal was to enable growers to reduce herbicide use while increasing crop production by precisely targeting weeds. Some questions have been raised about whether there are any additional benefits to this technology beyond reduced pesticide use.

Some of these sprayers are equipped with two separate tanks, each with its corresponding plumbing and boom. A single sprayer can utilize a dual boom system, where two pesticides can be sprayed simultaneously but not mixed. This allows a grower to make a broadcast application in one boom and use the targeted application boom to only turn on when a weed is detected. While you may see a decrease in pesticide use with the targeted application boom, you may also observe a beneficial effect when certain herbicides are sprayed separately, rather than being tank-mixed.

Ultimately, we observed that Palmer pigweed had a higher percentage of control when Engenia® and Liberty® 280SL were not applied together in higher auxin-resistant populations. When Engenia® was sprayed through the first boom and Liberty® was sprayed through the second boom, control of Palmer pigweed was increased. While the new technologies do allow for a decrease in herbicide use when using targeted applications, studies suggest that an additional benefit of increased weed control may be achieved using two boom systems compared to conventional tank mix applications. Also, the tank-mix was not labeled, but the split boom application was in 2024 and will likely be again on the new labels in 2026.   ∆

COLTON FULLER AND DR. LARRY STECKEL

UNIVERSITY OF TENNESSEE