Selecting farm sprayer settings with the Syngenta Spray Assist App will ensure operators are always following best practice and could deliver up to 40% better results for autumn grass weed control, compared to some on-farm techniques.

Results of Spray Assist trials conducted last autumn showed an average 25% improvement in black-grass control from the same herbicide treatment and application timing, by following the App’s recommendations for nozzle selection, speed and operating pressure in the prevailing weather conditions. 

Syngenta application specialist, Harry Fordham, explained: “Spray Assist looks at the crop, the growth stage, treatment and weather forecast, to recommend the optimum nozzle selection that the sprayer operator has available, along with the advised water volume, pressure and speed, to achieve the best results possible.

“The algorithms used are based on a huge resource of Syngenta trials data and nozzle manufacturers information. The App can make recommendations for 17 different crops with over 100 different treatments and timings. It will only make a recommendation from the nozzles and equipment that have been pre-programmed by the operator, so every calculation is specific to that farm and cropping.”

Harry pointed out that Spray Assist can draw on weather information from multiple sources across the UK, Europe and the world to provide accurate predictions of wind and rainfall conditions up to five days in advance of an application. If the weather forecast changes, the App will adapt the advice provided. 

In the black-grass trials, for example, Spray Assist advocated the use of a low-drift Lechler ID3 05 nozzle to apply 200 l/ha operated at 2.2 bar when spraying at 10 kph to achieve the best result (81% control), compared to poor farm practice using a flat fan 05 at 3.2 bar to apply the same water volume at 16 kph – which achieved just 58% weed control. In other plots sprayed at 100 l/ha, the Spray assist recommendation of an ID3 03 at 1.5 bar and 10 kph outperformed a 03 flat fan at 2.1 bar at 16 kph by over 11% in black-grass control.      

“Spray Assist can make the difference in better targeting of sprays in the field and achieving the crucial extra few percent of control with every application. The way it can be tailored to each individual farm means that it is always giving the most up to date bespoke and advice.”

“It doesn’t replace the skills and experience of the farm sprayer operator, but it does provide an extremely quick, simple and free resource to support their decisions and help deliver consistently better results.”   

Spray Assist is available to download now from the App Store and Google Play.