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ARS Home » Plains Area » College Station, Texas » Southern Plains Agricultural Research Center » Aerial Application Technology Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #396714
Research Project: Improved Aerial Application Technologies for Precise and Effective Delivery of Crop Production Products

Location: Aerial Application Technology Research

Title: Herbicide spray drift from ground and aerial applications: Implications for potential pollinator foraging sources

Author
item BUTTS, THOMAS - University Of Arkansas
item Fritz, Bradley - Brad
item KOUAME, BADOU-JEREMIE - University Of Arkansas
item NORSWORTHY, JASON - University Of Arkansas
item BARBER, L - University Of Arkansas
item ROSS, JEREMY - University Of Arkansas
item LORENZ, GUS - University Of Arkansas
item THRASH, BENJAMIN - University Of Arkansas
item BATEMAN, NICK - University Of Arkansas
item Adamczyk, John

Submitted to: Nature Plants
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 10/20/2022
Publication Date: 10/26/2022
Citation: Butts, T.R., Fritz, B.K., Kouame, B., Norsworthy, J.K., Barber, L.T., Ross, J., Lorenz, G.M., Thrash, B.C., Bateman, N.R., Adamczyk Jr, J.J. 2022. Herbicide spray drift from ground and aerial applications: Implications for potential pollinator foraging sources. Nature Plants. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-22916-4.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-22916-4

Interpretive Summary: Synthetic auxin herbicides are the third most frequently used globally for broadleaf weed management. A better understanding of the role that application technologies and management practices play in off-target movement and damage to non-target crops and pollinators from these herbicides is needed. Field trials measured downwind spray movement and damage to indicator plants to assess the impact of application settings and meteorological conditions on spray transport and fate. While aerial applications resulted in more than double the downwind deposition and plant damage, the field and modeling results showed that offsetting aerial spray passes by several swaths in the upwind direction significantly reduced both deposition and plant damage. The results from this study provide practical guidance for best management practices for both ground and aerial applications to mitigate off-target damage from herbicide applications.

Technical Abstract: A field spray drift experiment using florpyrauxifen-benzyl, a synthetic auxin herbicide, was conducted to measure drift potential of commercial applications from ground and aerial spray equipment, evaluate spray drift impacts on soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.], and compare to current United States Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA) spray drift models. Field and model results generally indicated that with both system applying similar coarse sized sprays, aerial application had a 5.0- to 8.6-fold increase in downwind spray drift compared to the ground application, and subsequently, a 1.7- to 3.6-fold increase in downwind soybean injury. Soybean reproductive structures were severely reduced following exposure to florpyrauxifen-benzyl potentially negatively impacting late-season pollinator foraging sources. The ground application resulted in approximately a 25% reduction of soybean reproductive structures up to 30.5-m downwind and the aerial application resulted in nearly a 100% reduction at 61-m downwind.