Driftwatch Site Adds Application For Pesticide Applicators
February 26, 2010 The Indiana Driftwatch Web site now has a registry for pesticide applicators to stay up-to-date on new field information.
Driftwatch is a voluntary Web site that is designed to help crop producers and applicators reduce the amount of chemical drift when spraying fields by keeping them updated with changes being made to fields.
"The addition to the site will allow applicators to check fields they will be spraying and the surrounding fields," says Dave Scott, pesticide administrator with the Office of Indiana State Chemist, located at Purdue University.
The Web site is a starting point for a wide range of communication tools.
Applicators are updated on newly registered fields, the crops planted in those fields and the products that have been used on the field.
"Updates will be sent to the applicators’ e-mail addresses," Scott says. "This way they will have an instant update, and they will not have to refer back to the site as often."
The Web site also will allow applicators to know what surrounding neighbors’ needs may be.
"Because farming is not like it used to be 20 years ago — different people are farming the same field more often — it is important to have good neighbor relations and to be sensitive to neighbors’ needs," Scott says. "We hope the change will help decrease chemical drift problems and increase applicator and producer involvement with Driftwatch."
Sensitive agricultural areas registered on the site include beehives, certified organic crops, fruits, grapes, nursery crops, pumpkins, melons, tomatoes and vegetables. Other registered sites include streams and bodies of water that are habitats for at-risk animal species or that supply community drinking water.
For more information on Driftwatch, click here. Or contact Scott at 765-494-1593, [email protected], or Leighanne Hann at 765-427-3472, [email protected].
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