Mallee Sustainable Farming has moved to tackle the issue of spray drift head on by bringing together government regulators from three states alongside representatives from across Mallee’s sectors.
MSF executive officer David Bone says the meeting, held in Mildura, Vic, confirmed there is a lot not known about spray drift.
“Plenty of people are talking about spray drift but there is a definite lack of information around the actual size, scope and impact of spray drift in the Mallee,” he said. “The regulators say people remain reluctant to report spray drift and, while physical drift directly from one neighbour to another has resulted in legal action, spray drift caused by inversion is much harder to identify to the source.”
Mr Bone says meeting participants clearly recognised this information deficit, along with the need to better understand the social drivers behind the way people use chemicals.
“We all agreed the vast majority of farmers are looking after their neighbours and mates by doing the right thing including checking the weather regularly during spraying, aiming for a droplet size above course to very course and reducing boom height,” he said.
“Our next challenge might be making sure these messages about how to eliminate spray drift are getting through to the right people.
“Spray drift is a complex issue, it doesn’t have a single easy to identify cause or solution but working together is certainly a good place to start.”