A Dirty Sprayer Could Cost Farmers Their Crop

Jul 13, 2026
By Farms.com

Residual Herbicides in Sprayers Can Cause Serious Crop Damage

Penn State Extension is highlighting the importance of thoroughly cleaning spray equipment throughout the growing season to reduce the risk of pesticide contamination and protect crop health. As weather conditions continue to vary across, growers are moving into a busy period of herbicide, fungicide, and insecticide applications.

This season has brought a mix of excessive rainfall and flooding in the midwest, while some areas have experienced excess heat and dry weather. With narrow opportunities for field applications, producers often need to complete treatments quickly, making proper sprayer maintenance even more important.

Residual herbicides left inside tanks, hoses, booms, filters, screens, and nozzles can damage sensitive crops during later applications. Because many modern herbicides are effective at very low use rates, even tiny amounts remaining in spray equipment may cause symptoms such as leaf cupping, twisting, and plant deformities. A quick rinse after spraying is generally not enough to eliminate these residues.

Sprayer cleanout also plays an important role before fungicide applications. Fungicides are commonly mixed with insecticides, foliar nutrients, biological products, and adjuvants. These combinations may loosen herbicide residues that remain inside the sprayer, increasing the chance of unintended crop injury.

Penn State Extension educators Tosh Rung Mazzone and Stephen Campbell recommend carefully following the cleaning instructions listed on each pesticide label, as requirements differ among products.

Effective cleanout includes draining the sprayer completely, flushing the system with clean water, circulating an approved cleaning solution through the equipment, cleaning filters, strainers, nozzles, and screens separately, and performing a final rinse before the next application.

Maintaining detailed equipment cleaning records, wearing the required personal protective equipment, and properly disposing of rinse water according to regulations are additional practices that help support safe pesticide applications, protect crop performance, and reduce environmental risks.

Photo Credit: gettyimages-oticki

Video: Dicamba Returns for Georgia Farmers: What the New EPA Ruling Means for Cotton Growers

After being unavailable in 2024 due to registration issues, dicamba products are returning for Georgia farmers this growing season — but under strict new conditions.

In this report from Tifton, Extension Weed Specialist Stanley Culpepper explains the updated EPA ruling, including new application limits, mandatory training requirements, and the need for a restricted use pesticide license. Among the key changes: a cap of two ½-pound applications per year and the required use of an approved volatility reduction agent with every application.

For Georgia cotton producers, the ruling is significant. According to Taylor Sills with the Georgia Cotton Commission, the vast majority of cotton planted in the state carries the dicamba-tolerant trait — meaning farmers had been paying for technology they couldn’t use.

While environmental groups have expressed concerns over spray drift, Georgia growers have reduced off-target pesticide movement by more than 91% over the past decade. Still, this two-year registration period will come with increased scrutiny, making stewardship and compliance more important than ever.