STRAIGHT FROM THE HORSES MOUTH

Duane A. Lienemann

UNL Extension Educator

Webster County January 29, 2011 Edition I just got back from the Nebraska Association of County Extension Boards that was held in North Platte. As President of the NCEA (Nebraska Cooperative Extension Association), I participated in the NACEB board of director business meeting and also the Annual NACEB Conference which was a fantastic event, but another benefit of the trip is what I am going to talk about in this week’s column. As a part of the conference, I had the opportunity to tour the West Central Research & Extension Center, viewing the facilities where a lot of beef research is done (which of course interested me) as well as the horticulture area where many different varieties of Penstemon have been developed, including the famous Husker Red. We also got to see the research that is currently going on with invading species including something that is important to the Republican River Valley, Phragmites, the plant that looks like a cross between reeds and Pampas Grass. The WREC is also very well known for grass, forage and wheat development and research and anyone that has been to private pesticide applicator training knows the work that they have done on pesticide sprayer calibration and research on drift. This area that uses a laser light system and high speed camera to capture spray patterns was demonstrated as well as a new system for measuring spray patterns that is being developed. But what really caught my attention was the new research facility that is being created right now. I say new, but it will actually be housed in an old swine confinement building. It is a huge accomplishment for UNL Extension and puts us in the driver’s seat of an important issue. Wind Tunnel Technology for Pesticides: Plans at West Central are to build a system of two drift tunnels, which would be only the second such system in the country to conduct that kind of research. The only other tunnel in the nation is directed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Incidentally, the USDA it has been integral in the design of the new UNL system. This will be the first commercial testing wind tunnel facility in the U.S. and will be housed right here in Nebraska. Research that will be done at this new facility will look into the potential of pesticide drift, which occurs when pesticides drift to unintended targets when they're applied to crop fields. Unwanted pesticide drift has been the subject of lawsuits and the Environmental Protection Agency is planning a new "drift reduction technology" policy, requiring more wording on pesticide labels to reduce drift. That’s right, more regulations, more reading of labels. The UNL research will evaluate different nozzle types, application pressures and spray solutions and at different wind speeds. The addition of a new research facility will enable more detailed study on spray collection efficiency, pesticide penetration into the plant canopy, and spray quality and pesticide efficacy comparisons. We need to better understand drift potential and the implications of drift to mitigate its negative effects. That wording likely will include information on allowable particle sizes at which the pesticide can be applied, as well as guidelines on buffer zones to minimize drift. After the EPA's DRT policies are in place, research will be needed to determine each pesticide's potential for drift, taking into account application speed, pressure, nozzle selection, tank mixtures, wind speed and more. This has been developed with grants provided by businesses that are in need of this research. It also goes right in line with the chemical trespass laws that currently are a part of the PSEP considerations. It was made even more significant to me because of what is going on with Federal Regulations, the growth of organic farms and vineyards or other venues with chemical sensitive plants. There is also a growing concern among consumers about the safety of their foods, and pesticides rank right up there with the tip considerations. The drift tunnels will cost about $1.2 million to build and will take about eight months to build. They will have variable speed fans at one end to simulate wind flow and scrubber systems at the other to prevent contamination of the environment by the pesticides being tested. Plants, insects and other living specimens will be placed in the tunnels for application and a laser will be used to determine particle size. One tunnel -- 48 feet long, 4 feet wide and 4 feet tall -- will be used to test low wind speeds, zero to 25 mph. The other -- at least 30 feet long, 1 foot high and 1 foot wide -- will be capable of testing winds up to 220 mph, which will enable researchers to replicate aerial application conditions. New Nebraska Truck Regulations: A new thrust by the Nebraska State Patrol could have an effect on our area farmers. Four meetings in Nebraska this coming month are planned to explain what the Nebraska State Patrol's Carrier Enforcement Division is calling the "biggest changes to affect motor carrier enforcement in decades." The Nebraska State Patrol says a “compliance, safety and accountability program”, implemented by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration in December, is the basis for the changes. Those changes will increase monitoring of motor carrier on-the-road performance and implement new penalties for unsafe driving behaviors. Area farmers may want to check on this! The patrol says the meetings should be attended by those who operate any of the following vehicles in Nebraska: Any farm truck displaying farm plates and registered for more than 16 tons; pickup pulling a trailer of more than 10,000 pounds combined weight or gross combination of weight rating; a pickup or truck weighing more than 10,000 pounds; and any pickup, trailer, truck or semi requiring a class A, B or C commercial driver's license. If this describes you, you might want to check into it. The only class I know of in our area is on Feb.16 at the Holiday Inn Express, Lexington at 7 p.m. The preceding information comes from the research and personal observations of the writer which may or may not reflect the views of UNL or UNL Extension. For more further information on these or other topics contact D. A. Lienemann, UNL Extension Educator for Webster County in Red Cloud, (402) 746-3417 or email to: dlienemann2@unl.edu or go to the website at: www.webster.unl.edu/home