For today’s orchard to succeed, traditional spraying technologies are no longer right for the job. In a bid to increase yield and farm more productively with greater efficiency, orchardists are growing more trees on tighter spacing than ever before.

Cam Clifford, managing director of AME Group, says these increasingly intensive orchards need new and better spraying technologies to control pests and disease, and fully protect crops.

“Airblast-style fan sprayers are designed for traditional orchards with wide spacings, so they produce far too much air volume for the low to middle section of the trees, blasting sprays right through to the canopy without depositing correctly – and without effectively reaching the treetops,” Mr Clifford said.

“They also produce huge amounts of off-target drift, which is understandably a big problem for environmentally and socially responsible orchardists.”

Turning to tangential

So what’s the answer? To get the spray to all target surfaces, Mr Clifford recommends a full-length, tangential fan that produces a complete ‘curtain’ of air. Simple to set up and use, this minimises off-target drift and offers superior disease control with excellent coverage.

“What’s also great about this technology is that the drive for both the tangential fans and spray pump is fully hydraulic, making the sprayer quick and safe to connect to the tractor. It’s also lower maintenance and can perform a tighter turn.

“Auto-rate control is a standard feature, making it easier to get a consistent result. Just choose your application rate and the system will use the right amount for the travel speed.”

Made for Australia

Mr Clifford said one sprayer in particular that combines these cutting-edge features to meet the unique challenges facing Australasian growers is the FMR O1 Orchard Sprayer.

“Since 2007, the FMR name has been synonymous with strong and robust construction. Like all FMR machines, the FMR O1 Orchard Sprayer is engineered to handle the tough conditions that are a part of farming in Australasia.

“It also offers a whole host of features to meet your specific needs and local conditions. In windy regions, the optional Bias Control system controls left and right-hand fan speeds individually to output more air when pushing into the wind. This system is ‘flipped’ with one button at the end of the row to reverse the bias.”

To minimise the health and safety risk for machine operators, the tower section folds down hydraulically to make cleaning, nozzle changes and greasing simple and safe.

“Operators love to drive the O1 because it’s so quiet, with no deafening airblast fan. And at the end of the shift, the fibreglass tank makes washing the machine a breeze,” Mr Clifford said.

Automate your orchard

To push productivity even further, AME Group (the exclusive Australian distributor of FMR sprayers) can combine the FMR O1 Orchard Sprayer with the GOtrack GPS Auto Drive system, which drives your tractor for you.

So as well as enjoying all the benefits of targeted, effective spraying, you can also automate the entire system for even greater operational savings and safety.