Farmers and commercial applicators who were interested in learning more about advanced sprayer technology attended an all-day clinic at Iowa State University in July 2012. "We are repeating that program and presentation on Thursday, September 27 at the ISU Extension FEEL lab, just west of Ames," says Mark Hanna, an ISU Extension ag engineer. "I know the date is during harvest, but we wanted to give custom applicators who were too busy to come to the clinic in mid-July another chance to attend. So we will hold this second clinic in late September."

Sprayer clinic to be held this fall at ISU will give applicators who couldn't come to the previous session which was held in July another chance to attend.

Iowa State University is offering this advanced spray technology clinic for commercial and private applicators. The clinic, just like the one held in July, will include the "On Target Application Academy." That is an educational opportunity to learn more about the latest in sprayer technology and how to use it to control drift and to get more accuracy and efficiency from pesticide applications.

The "On Target Application Academy has been developed by BASF Corporation, along with application technology specialist Dr. Robert E. Wolf, and TeeJet Technologies.

Comments from people attending the July clinic which was held at ISU at Ames include:

* Topics covered deal with exactly what we deal with in the fields

* Will help with diagnosing our system & educating others

* "Happy medium" between droplet size & plant contact

* Hit topics on drift just right

* Very good discussions

* Excellent information. Thanks for the opportunity to attend.

"Applicators attending will have hands-on training providing an enhanced understanding of application technology, increased awareness of best application practices, and improved ability to train co-workers," says Hanna. "Additionally, attendees should come away with information to achieve effective pest control, help mitigate spray drift and protect crops. Specific topics include nozzle selection and demonstration, sprayer setup, equipment clean-out and adjuvant use."

The clinic, designed for applicators with some experience, will be held Thursday, September 27 at the ISU Field Extension Education Laboratory at Ames. It is offered in either a morning (9 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.) or an afternoon (1 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.) session with a lunch served for both groups. There is no fee to attend this program, however training space is limited. Advance registration is required. You can preregister at www.aep.iastate.edu/spray.

Further details can be found at the Web site. "This training provides an excellent opportunity for applicators to learn and evaluate application strategies," says Hanna.