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Spray Shield Protects Crops Along Edgtes Of Bean Fields
"My homemade spray shield slips onto both ends of my spray boom to keep Roundup from damaging corn along the edges of bean fields," says Arvin De Cook, Sully, Iowa, who uses the shield every time he makes the first pass around the field when spraying Roundup onto his Roundup Ready beans.
  He welded two lengths of 1 1/4-in. sq. tubing to each end of his 50-ft. pull-type sprayer. The spray shield is made from 1-in. sq. tubing with rubber bolted to the sides. The spray shield frame simply slips into the tubing that's welded to the boom.
  The rubber shield is 5 ft. wide at back, 1 ft. wide at front, and 2 ft. wide on the end. A flap on top keeps spray from drifting upward. The bottom of the belt is about 10 in. off the ground.
  "I've used it on several hundred acres with complete success," says De Cook. "It lets me rub the end of the boom almost right up against the corn without damaging it. Roundup spray drift on corn can be a big problem - I've seen many corn fields with several rows of corn damaged. It can cost a lot of money. For example, just one row in a half-mile long field equals 1/3 of an acre. At a yield of 150 bu. per acre, that row would have produced 50 bu. of corn which, at $2 per bu, is a $100 yield loss. I plant all Roundup Ready soybeans and most of the fields are surrounded by corn so I have a lot to lose.
  "To solve the problem some farmers don't spray a 5-ft. wide strip of soybeans next to their corn, but that results in weedy beans in that strip.  After I'm done making the outside round I just slip the shield off the boom and hang it on brackets that I mounted on the side of the tractor."
  Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Arvin De Cook, 9658 Hwy. F62E, Sully, Iowa 50251 (ph 515 594-3438).


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2000 - Volume #24, Issue #1