While addressing weed control and pressing agronomic issues is a farmers’ priority during the growing season, ensuring adjacent wetlands and riparian buffer zones within crop fields are healthy and free of invasive species is imperative, too.
Today, there is novel research from the University of Waterloo showing a single, targeted herbicide application from a spray drone can suppress common invasive reed species with more than 99% effectiveness. The outcome is among many research findings recently published online in a Weed Science Society of America (WSSA) research journal.
If you’d really like to get into the weeds, you can review the full scientific study results here.
“The 99% reduction in live common reed stems observed with drone-based herbicide application demonstrates its capacity to suppress invasive common reed effectively,” says Rebecca Rooney, Ph.D., the University of Waterloo. Rooney is also a professor in the school’s biology department and the study’s corresponding author.
Rooney says the drone application method “matched or exceeded the efficacy of conventional helicopter and backpack applications.”
That’s a key aspect of the study findings because, as any farmer knows, managing invasive weeds in wetlands or buffer strips can pose significant challenges, due to limited access via hand weeding crews and ground rigs.
Spray drone applications allow for smaller spray widths and lower flight heights compared to manned helicopters, Rooney says, and the study results also show a reduction in off-target impacts and spray drift.
“This approach also holds promise for accelerating ecological recovery in wetland habitats,” says Rooney, adding that future research efforts around spray drone application in wetland settings should focus on long-term native vegetation recovery and quantify the accuracy of herbicide applications to minimize off-target damage to native vegetation in wetlands.”
Here’s a video from nuWay Ag showing the process of spray drone application in an Ohio wetland:
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