There are many ways a person can learn about calibration.

• Contact your local weed coordinator or extension agent.
• Attend a Private Applicator’s Class in your area.
• Use a combination of print and video materials available.

The following are some of the print materials available.

• Calibrating Ground Sprayers Using Shortcut Methods - a MSU Extension Publication
• Calibrating Pesticide Application Equipment – a MSU Extension Publication

MWCA helped to underwrite this short video that demonstrates calibration of equipment.  We have broken it down in to 6 steps.

Chapter 1 Importance of Calibration

Chapter 2 Equipment & Pre-Calibration Check

Chapter 3 Understanding Calibration
[See post to watch Flash video]

Chapter 4 Calibrating Backpack Sprayer and Handline
[See post to watch Flash video]

Chapter 5 Calibrating Using the Strip Method
[See post to watch Flash video]

Chapter 6 Adding Pesticide to Your Tank
[See post to watch Flash video]

MSU Extension also has a DVD available for purchase on their website.

MSU announced August 2010:   New Sprayer Calibration Pocketguides are available for Hand Sprayers and for Boom and Broadjet Sprayers. The guides are printed on weather- and tear-proof paper. Author Cecil Tharp, MSU Extension Pesticide Education Specialist, included information about measuring sprayer or nozzle output, correct tank mixing steps, helpful liquid measurement conversions, sample equations and a recommended application rate chart in ounces per acre. The pocketguides are available for 65 cents each.

Weed control was initiated in the fall of 2001 using both biological agents and herbicide. The biological control was released in the more inaccessible areas above the river and above the hiking trails, while herbicide was used along the trails and from the trails to the river, where public use is the highest. Herbicide application was done as a joint effort between the BLM and the Madison County Weed Board with joint spray days being held twice yearly, one in the spring and the other in the fall. After the first year of treatment we were surprised at how the native grasses came back and became fairly competitive with the knapweed. In 2002, 2003, and 2004 a private contractor treated the road leading into the trailhead and any of the trails that couldn’t be covered during the joint spray days. Starting in 2005 the BLM hired a crew of two sprayers that would take over the role of the private contractor. A minimum of three float trips a year were scheduled in order to gain access to some infestations of Leafy Spurge that are inaccessible by land.

To date the project has met with great success. The size and density of the noxious weed infestations has been reduced dramatically with the only problem being the re-infestation of some of the treated areas by cheatgrass. Beginning in 2010 we hope to get the original group together again to determine what our strategy for the next ten years will be and how we will handle the re-vegetation of some of the areas infested by cheatgrass.

Leafy spurge is along fenceline and in the pasture

The Valley County Weed District has teamed up with the Glasgow Irrigation District since 2002 to control noxious weeds on 46 miles of main canal and 44 miles of lateral canals. Think about noxious weed seeds being spread by a water system 90 miles long. Wildlife and domestic animals have been spreading seeds from near that water source. Also, think about walking through a solid stand of mature Canada thistle for 1/8 mile! Not a pleasant thought! That was the situation in 2002 on the irrigation canal system in Valley County. The Glasgow Irrigation District and the Valley County Weed District decided to do something about these noxious weeds. Now in 2009, they are under control and the canal system, overall, is in good condition, thanks to financial funding through the Montana Noxious Weed Trust Fund Grant Program. The canal system has 46 miles of main canal from Vandalia Dam in the west and flows east to Nashua. There are 19 lateral canals (44 total miles) that also were infested in areas with leafy spurge that are under control. For anyone who has ever been involved with noxious weed control, the reality is that the work is never truly done. However the ranchers and farmers who use the canal system have seen great results and can be confident that their land and crops will not be lost or severely damaged by infestations of noxious weeds.

Leafy spurge was treated with Tordon22K and 2-4D

For more information contact Rick Stellflug, Valley County Weed Coordinator

Click to view this webcast now.