2-4-D Amine

Sorry for posting this on tractor.. but figured more would know about this here than in "country living section..

I have a 3 point 50 gallon sprayer has a boom that will spray 14 feet.. I spray about 35 acres with this mainly pasture for weeds. So question is How much 24D do I mix with 50 gallons water. I usually mix 12 cups to 50 gallons. Seems to be working but I have a buddy that mixes 16 per 50 .. I know there is a lot of latitude in this stuff but would like to know others opinions. I usually can spray 16 acres using 100 gallons solutions at 7 miles per hour.

You're doing this backwards. How much product (2-4D) do you want to spray per acre? If you're spraying 16 acres per tankfull,figure how much product you have to add to the water to apply that much to 16 acres.

100 gallons sprays 16 acres, you have a 50 gallon tank right.

6.25 gallons per acre is your spray rate. Your tank sprays 8 acres. The label on your 24D is very specific on rates for target species.

If its says 2 quarts per acre you mix in 16 quarts in your tank (8acres x 2qts/acre) If its 1 quart per acre then you mix in 8.

Im with 36F30 on this. There are so many different formulations of 2,4-D that its really hard to predict what the rate is. But, you know your treated acres so its pretty easy to calculate off the label. I've used the LVE as opposed to the amine formulation for so long I dont even remember what it used to be.

When we first started spraying, the labels would tell you how many ounces per gallon to mix. That has changed. Most products now state an amount per acre. 2-4-D should be one quart (1 qt=32 ounces or 4 cups)per acre. Read your label.

The amount of the herbicide per acre is static, but the amount of water you mix with it can vary. Our ag agent recommends at least 20 gallons per acre.

While a mix of one quart of herbicide sprayed at 25 gallons per acre may be weaker than one quart of herbicide sprayed at 20 gallons per acre, at 25 gallons per acre you are putting more herbicide on the weed. That means if you were spraying 20 gallons per acre the weeds might get 4 or 5 droplets. At 25 gallons per acre, the weed gets hit with maybe 7 or 8 droplets so even though the actual mix is not as strong, more of the mix gets on the undesired weeds. At the lower spray rate of 20 gal/acre, some weeds can be missed or not get enough to be effective.

Also, if you plan on grazing that field, be sure to read your label and find out how long after spraying you have to wait until you can graze the field. I don't remember exactly, but I think with 2-4-D you have to wait at least 10 days after spraying before you can graze the field.

If you need to graze this field right away, there are several products that do not have a wait time between spraying and grazing. We use GrazeonNext because it doesn't have any hold or wait time from when the herbicide is sprayed and when you can graze the field.

I recommend you find out who your local ag agent is and give him a call. They are very helpful.

The label on my 2,4-D Amine (46.3% active ingredient) has a section specifically for "Weed control in established grass pastures and rangelands". This is probably what you are doing according to your post. It also says "use at 2 to 4 pints per acre". Read your label and apply accordingly. I usually use the higher rate to get some control on tough weeds and brush.

You also need to be careful to know the specific "pounds per gallon" of active ingredient of the chemical. At least some types of 24-D are available in 4 or 8 pound formulations and perhaps more variations.

Mrs. Howell: I wouldn't put a lot of faith in an ag agent that thinks you need a minimum of 20 gal. /acre for 24D amine. The original poster is getting 6.25 gal/acre which will provide quite adequate coverage. If you were told to go with a minimum of 20 gal/acre the reason may have been 1) to give you more margin for error or 2) make it so you can drive slower or 3) because you have awfully coarse nozzles. If you get a plane to spray 24D they use 2 gal. or less/acre.

If you are in cotton country, you better be DEAD CERTAIN POSITIVE that you watch drift. It is possible to drift damage cotton for miles and if your neighbors got damaged, and were desperate to find a culprit and found you with an empty 2-4D jug, they would likely try to hang you on the wall.

That has become a big issue out here - as the dryland farmers have used 2-4D for years - with cotton moving in recently.

Not to mention any peppers, black-eyed peas, etc, or gardens within range...

Howard

Did the tornado disrupt any of the cotton near you yesterday?

Hope all is OK in your area.

I applaud you or being a responsible person for wanting to take care of your pasture weeds. I wish my neighbors would do that, too.

However, as a rancher who uses herbicides, it always scares me when I hear these types of questions , especially when you say".. I use 12 cups per 50 gallons but "...my buddy is using 16 cups for 50 gallons..." 12 cups per 50 gallons that 6 pints per 50 gallons. Now if you put that uniformally on 35 acres, that"s 6/35 pts per acre or O.17 pts per acre. Respectfully, that"s a good way to start breeding resistant weeds! And that"s the last thing we need. It"s hard to get new herbicides approved by the EPA and we don"t need to have the ones we have become ineffective.

You are required to use herbicide per the label instructions usually expressed in pints of herbicide per acre. To do that you need to know the the total flow rate from the nozzles(~gpm)at the particular pressure you are spraying at, the coverage of the spray boom(w~ft) and the speed of your spray rig(~mph).
So if you use 1 pt in 10 gallons and want to put on 1 pt of herbicide per acre(10 gallons of mix with at 1 pt herbicide)and your spray is w ft wide

10 gallons per acre= (gpm x 5940)/(mph x w).
You can go to your county extension office and they can give you some literature about how to figure this out, and how to calibrate your nozzles, and how to figure out your speed. It"s not rocket science and it"s relatively easy to do.
So do yourself and the rest of the agriculture community a favor and if you are going to spray for weeds, do it right.

In the early '50s, we used 2-4D on rice. Any drift towards cotton fields resulted in damaged cotton. I don't know of any ag planes hit by gunfire, but pilots were nervous. The pilot suggested we try spraying in a drizzle to see if it would stop the drift. There was a light breeze that day, with no sensitive crops downwind. A couple of days later, the pilot flew the drift line across northern Galveston County into Harris County beyond the San Jacinto Monument and across the Houston Ship Channel. Fortunately, only trees were burned. He didn't try that anymore. 2-4D did an effective job on rice, but it was a threat downwind. They finally went to 2-4-5T as it seemed to drift less. It got to the point that an USDA inspector had to be present during the spraying operations, with a tire burning to check wind direction.

Hi James -

The corn is planted, but its still too early for cotton planting here.

We were on the "dry line" so all the rough weather was east and north of us...

Yep - doing fine - after all the snow finally melted we have great submoisture, so everyone is excited to start the year off with good moisture.

We were down your way the past weekend for the NASCAR races at TMS - sure was a soggy weekend!!!

Hope things are going well for you, too.

Howard

grape apes are just as bad