Hood River Grower-Shipper Association -- Best Management Practices Project

Best Management Practices for Orchard Spraying

Maintain an air gap between filler pipes and sprayers to prevent backflow.

Preventing backflow reduces the possibility of chemical contamination of the water source and delivery system.

Prevent chemical runoff and off-target contamination during mixing and loading procedures.

Rinse pesticide containers when filling sprayers and mix rinsate back into spray tank. Store rinsed plastic containers away from waterways. 

 

Recycle containers or dispose of according to label directions, do not burn.

Apply spray tank rinse water back into the orchard -- do not drain it in one spot.

 

Applying rinsate back into the orchard reduces likelihood of overland runoff and contamination of open water sources.

 

Depositing rinsate into one spot significantly increases the potential for overland runoff

and contamination of open water sources.

Do not overfill sprayers.  Use anti-foaming agent to reduce the risk.