When it comes to spraying foliar fertilizers to aid crop growth, or spraying pesticides to control weeds, diseases, and insects; sprayer operators and farmers pay close attention to various factors affecting product performance. These factors may include the calibration of the equipment, application timing, label instructions and to some extent, the water volume. However, oftentimes hardly any attention is paid to water quality – even though water comprises over 95% of the spray solution.
Soil pH is a key factor in farmland as it controls availability of nutrients, microbial activity and crop productivity. Before delving into what causes soils to become acid or alkaline and the steps to take to treat and correct soil pH, we must first establish what is considered an optimal pH for crop production.
I’m sure you’ve seen how hard water can leave its mark in and around plumbing fixtures and on clothing, but have you taken the time to consider what it means for your spray solutions?
Water across the Prairie provinces varies from moderately hard to very hard. If you are farming on the Prairies, you are, without question, dealing with some degree of hard water. And, as you may know, hard water goes hand-in-hand with high pH (greater than 7). Not only will hard water decrease the effectiveness of your crop protection products and foliar fertilizers, repeatedly spraying high pH water can make the soil acidic, creating a stressful growing condition for crops.
Water chemistry plays a large part in getting maximum efficacy from your herbicides during pre-season burn-off or in-season spraying. Tank mixing herbicides with hard water that has high pH levels can reduce their effectiveness, which can ultimately lead to less weed control and loss of yields.
The water from wells and dug-outs that’s often used on the farm is usually hard water. Testing for water hardness and pH level is a good place to start, and there’s a good chance the test will reveal it isn’t as soft as you’d like it to be.
Water hardness is measured in parts per million (ppm). Test results from 100–200 ppm indicate hard water, with anything over 160 ppm being very hard. The pH level of water for crop spraying shouldn’t exceed 7 on the pH scale. When the test reveals hard water and/or high pH levels, I always recommend a water conditioner to soften the water and lower its pH to make it more suitable for crop spraying.
Have you ever wondered if you have hard or soft water? Perhaps you’ve heard or been a part of a conversation regarding water being hard or soft and wondered what exactly that means. You may have also noticed scaling and deposits left by hard water on the interior or exterior of plumbing and pipes. Maybe this didn’t bother you because, after all, water is water, isn’t it? But, consider this — what if the water quality that affects your drinking and shower water also makes a difference in the chemistry of what you are spraying on your crops?
Water in its natural form doesn’t contain any minerals and is considered “soft.” However, when it contains a high concentration of dissolved minerals, especially calcium (carbonate) and magnesium, it becomes “hard.” Water often picks up these minerals when passing through materials such as limestone. Calcium and magnesium also increase the pH of the water, with magnesium having twice as much impact as calcium.
