Product Labels and PCP Numbers

On each Product Page you will see a Registration or PCP number, so named because it is mandated by the Pest Control Products Act. Under the Act, every pesticide requires a unique identifier – the product’s Registration or PCP number. That number must also appear on the product’s label.

The pesticide label packaged with the product is the authoritative source of information on use of the product and will contain more detailed information than is included in this Guide. Some products have a number of trade names for the same active ingredient. However, each product will have its own Registration (PCP) number and these appear next to the registrants’ names. Users who are seeking more detailed information than is provided in this guide, prior to purchase, can use the Registration (PCP) number to access a sample product label online through the Pest Management Regulatory Agency’s (PMRA) website or they can contact the PMRA Hotline by phone at 1-800-267-6315.

Visit http://pr-rp.hc-sc.gc.ca/ls-re/index-eng.php to access the Electronic Label Search Tool. The PMRA Product Information database can be searched by a product’s trade name, active ingredient, company name or Registration (PCP) number. Since several products can contain the same active ingredient and there are often several versions of the same or similar labels on this database, using the PCP number is the most direct route to finding the label that links to the product page in this Guide. There may be some differences between a label found on the package and the sample labels found on the PMRA-Label Search web site so always refer to the packaged product label when applying the product.

Once the product is located, you may click on its number to view an Adobe Acrobat (PDF) document containing the label and any supplemental registrations. Some of these documents run to many pages but you can use the ‘Find’ capabilities of the Acrobat Reader plug-in for your browser to jump to specific areas of interest. If you do not have Adobe Acrobat Reader installed on your computer, you can download a free version from www.adobe.com.

Pesticide Uses

Understanding Maximum Residue Limit Statements in the Guide

To ensure the safety of Canadian food, maximum residue limits (MRLs) set the maximum allowable amount of a pesticide residue on a crop or in a processed crop product (e.g. oil or flour). Residue levels are typically assessed for pesticides registered on crops grown for food. MRLs even exist on imported food for pesticides or pesticide uses not registered in Canada.

Health Canada’s Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA) is responsible for setting MRLs in Canada. Similarly, importing countries set their own MRLs (also referred to as ‘import tolerances’) that Canadian crop exports are subject to. Trade issues between importing and exporting countries can arise due to variability in MRLs or a lack of established MRLs.

Crop pesticide uses that may contribute to trade irritations have been flagged on product pages in the Guide to Crop Protection with the statement: ‘Note: As of January 1, 2020 http://keepingitclean.ca indicates that grain from crops treated with this product may have market access concerns. Please see Pesticide Use for more information AND consult potential grain buyer(s) before using this product’. Manitoba Agriculture and Saskatchewan Ministry of Agriculture have included such statements on products uses with known or potential MRL issues. However, this may not be a complete list of product uses with potential trade issues.

Producers can follow these practices to help prevent exceeding MRLs:

• Read and follow product labels, especially with respect to registered crops, maximum application rates, maximum number of applications per season, crop stage and pre- harvest intervals.
• Talk to your commodity buyer before applying a pesticide, especially for new pesticide chemistries, new products and products registered on new crops.

More information on MRLs and ‘flagged’ products is available at http://keepingitclean.ca/.

Avoiding Spray Drift

To minimize the risk of drift, follow these guidelines:

1. Do not spray in winds above 16 km/hr (10 m/hr).
2. Do not spray under dead calm conditions in early morning, night, or late evening. These are often associated with temperature inversions, and the combination of these factors can result in long-distance spray drift (2 km or more). Fog or dust that seems to hang in the air is a good indicator of an inversion.
3. Avoid nozzle pressures above 45 psi (310 kPa) for conventional flat fan tips.
4. Use a minimum of 45 L/acre water for all pesticides unless otherwise specified for the product.
5. Take note of buffer zones identified in the “Key to Product Pages – Restrictions” section of this guide. Do not spray when the wind is blowing towards a nearby sensitive crop, shelterbelt, garden, or water body.
6. Use amine formulations of 2,4-D or MCPA where possible. Use special care when applying volatile herbicides (most herbicides in Group 3 and Group 4, particularly ester formulations). Avoid spraying these products on or immediately before hot days.
7. Ensure that air flow from air assisted sprayers is properly set to minimize airblast rebound and drift for different crop canopies.
8. Operate nozzles at their minimum recommended height. For 80° tips, this is 18” (45 cm), and for 110° tips, this is 12” (35 cm). Orienting nozzles forward allows further height reductions.
9. Special nozzles are now available that create coarse, low-drift sprays. Pre-orifice, Turbo-TeeJet, or venturi-type nozzles are available from a number of manufacturers, and these reduce drift by 50 to 95 percent. (Refer to the section entitled Herbicide Efficacy with Low-Drift Nozzles).
10. Consider equipping your sprayer with protective shrouds. A number of different designs are available that can reduce drift between 35 and 75 percent.
11. Reduce travel speeds. Rapid air movement over nozzle tips increases the risk of fine droplets prone to drift and turbulence from the sprayer itself can increase the uncertainty of spray deposition.

For more information on reducing drift, see the website: www.Sprayers101.com.

Herbicide Efficacy with Low-drift Nozzles

A number of low-drift nozzles are now available from different suppliers. Well established nozzles, such as the Turbo TeeJet, reduce drift by about 50 percent and provide equivalent efficacy to a standard flat fan nozzle. Newer nozzles (“venturi” types) are best known for their dramatic ability to reduce drift (50 to 95 percent). Research suggests that these nozzles perform well at conventional carrier volumes, travel speeds, and product rates. Some aspects require special attention:

Pressure: Some venturi-type nozzles require higher pressures to operate properly. Below 40 psi (275 kPa), patterns for these designs may deteriorate rapidly resulting in poor overlaps and erratic control. Design improvements have resulted in venturi nozzles that require less pressure to operate effectively. When using automatic rate controllers, make sure your pressures match the recommended pressure ranges for good nozzle performance.

Water Volume: Droplet size becomes more important at lower water volumes. Little is known about low-drift nozzle performance at or below 5 gal/acre (23 L/acre). Since low-drift nozzles generate fewer droplets than conventional nozzles, ensure that water volumes are high enough for coverage when using coarse sprays.

Weed Type: Difficult-to-wet weeds, such as wild oats, green foxtail, lamb’s-quarters, and cleavers, typically require finer sprays for effective coverage. When using venturi nozzles on these weeds, make sure your pressure is high enough to achieve good coverage. Larger weeds and reduced product rates typically make chemical control more difficult, and these conditions may also reveal some performance differences between nozzles.

Herbicide Type: Herbicides that belong to herbicide Groups 2, 4, and 9 perform well with venturi nozzles, even at normal pressures (40 psi). Application of herbicides in Groups 1, 6, 8, 10 and 14 may require higher pressures with venturi nozzles to maintain good performance, especially under challenging conditions. Wild oat control may be reduced with the coarsest sprays, even when applied at high pressure.

Check with your chemical representative to see if the manufacturer supports the use of low-drift nozzles with their products.

More information is available in the factsheet “Pesticide Application and Choosing the Right Nozzles,” available from your local extension office or at the Saskatchewan Ministry of Agriculture Website: www.saskatchewan.ca/agriculture.

Handling a Drift Complaint

When spray drift occurs, it is important to take the right steps to resolve the complaint. If you suspect that your crop or property has been damaged because of spray drift, use the following guidelines for resolving the situation.

1. Contact the suspected applicator as soon as possible. View the damage with the suspected applicator and determine if that person did, in fact, cause the damage.
2. Are you sure that the symptoms or damage you see has been caused by spray drift? Contact your local agriculture office or agronomist to discuss the injury symptoms.
3. If the damage was caused by the applicator, determine the extent of the damage and the level of compensation (if any) with the applicator.
4. If the situation cannot be resolved quickly because of disagreements on the extent of damage, cause of the damage, or level of compensation, contact your local agricultural office to discuss options on how to proceed. Documentation will be required, particularly if insurance companies are involved.
5. The involvement of a private consultant is recommended if documentation is required. Required documentation often includes samples of the damaged plants, photographs, and yield comparisons to determine losses. Your agricultural office can provide you with a list of private consultants in your area.
6. The best approach is to start an open and honest line of communication with the suspected applicator. The majority of drift complaints are resolved quickly and efficiently by communicating with the applicator, without the involvement of outside parties.

Mixing Pesticides

The ability to control a broad range of weeds or other pests in one pass is the advantage that a mix of two or more products allows. If tank mixing is not done in the correct order, the result could be a tank-load of material that may not control the target pests, cause injury to the crop, plug nozzles, or leave an undesirable residue in the tank that will require extensive cleaning. Mistakes like these are costly, could put the user at unnecessary risk of exposure to the products, or create an environmental disposal problem.

To avoid mixing that may result in incompatibilities, always consult the label of the products that are being used to learn the correct order. Remember to add all like components at the same stage of mixing. The list below is a general rule-of-thumb for mixing pesticides:

1. Fill the spray tank with 1/4 to 3/4 the amount of water required for the application and turn on the sprayer agitation. Check the products that are being used for the correct amount to add. Once agitation has begun, maintain until the tank is emptied.
2. Add any water conditioner (fertilizer or pH adjuster) additives to the tank.
3. Add any wettable powders, or water dispersible granules (DF, DG, or WDG). Add dry products slowly to prevent clogged return lines. Allow sprayer to agitate for a few minutes, allowing the product to become completely suspended in the tank, before adding the next component.
4. Shake any containers of liquid pesticide thoroughly before adding to ensure they are well mixed.
5. Add any oil dispersions (OD) or flowable liquid suspensions (F, SC) to the tank. Allow to mix.
6. Add emulsifiable concentrates (EC) or emulsions (ME, SE) to the tank and allow to mix.
7. Add any pesticides that are solutions (SN) (i.e. amines and salts)
8. Add any surfactants or other adjuvants.

Remember to always consult the label for compatible mixes and recommended mixing order.

Many pesticides will break down if left in the tank for an extended period. Try not to mix any more than you can spray at one time.

If you need to stop spraying for a short time, leave the sprayer agitation running to keep products from settling or separating in the tank.

Container Disposal

Proper disposal of used containers and unused pesticides is important to protect the environment and prevent contamination of soil and water resources. Rinse all containers prior to disposal to reduce environmental contamination caused by open dumping of unwanted containers. Only mix as much pesticide solution as is needed to treat the desired area.

Triple Rinsing

Triple rinsing renders used pesticide containers (metal, plastic, glass) more than 99.9 percent free of residues, in most cases. Here are the steps that should be followed:

1. Empty contents of the container into the spray tank and drain in a vertical position for 30 seconds.
2. Add a measured amount of rinse water or other diluent until container is about one-fifth full.
3. Rinse the container thoroughly and pour the rinsate into the spray tank.
4. Repeat the procedure twice (it should take only about 5 minutes in total).
5. Puncture or break triple rinsed containers to render them non-reusable. Paper bags should be rinsed once prior to disposal.

Pressure Rinsing

Pressure rinsers can be used to rinse any size of empty pesticide container that can be lifted into position over the spray tank. A 30 second rinse with a pressure rinser is convenient and just as effective as triple rinsing. Pressure rinsers are constructed to be thrust into the bottom of a metal can or plastic jug. Holes, situated laterally in the rinser tip, direct water from a pressurized source against the inner sides of the container and effectively wash the residual pesticide into the spray tank. Some farmers have found it convenient to attach a rinser to the pump on their large water storage tank to minimize container handling. Pressure rinsers have the added advantage of rendering containers useless by automatically puncturing them.

Disposal of Containers

Properly rinsed containers should be delivered to a designated pesticide container disposal site. Contact your ag Provincial Agriculture Office, municipal office or weed supervisor for the locations of pesticide container disposal sites in your municipality for more information on pesticide container recycling see www.cleanfarms.ca.

Sprayer Cleaning

When pesticide application is completed each day it is important to empty and clean the sprayer thoroughly to prevent the breakdown of certain pesticides, prevent adhesion of the pesticide to the sprayer, and to maintain the sprayer parts in good condition. Certain pesticides break down very quickly when left in solution, and several pesticide solutions can be corrosive to sprayer parts. Sprayer cleaning is especially important when changing from one crop to another or from one pesticide to another. Each year several reports are logged of herbicide damage cause by carryover of product residue in the tank. To avoid the risk of contamination, sprayers should be cleaned as soon as possible after application is completed.

Do not clean sprayers where rinsate can run off into ditches or other water bodies, near sensitive plants or shelterbelts, or where other people or animals are likely to walk, to avoid unnecessary exposure to people, animals and the environment.

There are three basic types of rinse solution for cleaning sprayer tanks. Their recipes and basic procedures are outlined below:

• The Ammonia Rinse – Fill spray tank and add 1 L of household ammonia (3%) for every 100 L of clean water needed for the rinse and begin agitation. Allow solution to flush through the booms until the boom is completely filled with ammonia solution and top up the tank with water. Circulate the ammonia solution through the tank and pump system for 15 minutes. Flush hoses and booms with ammonia rinse solution again (minimum 5 minutes) before emptying. Remove nozzles and screens and scrub with 0.1 L household ammonia per 10 L clean water and an old toothbrush. Perform clean water rinse to remove ammonia solution prior to next spray load. Some herbicides recommend leaving the ammonia rinse in the tank over night to improve cleaning potential.
• The Fresh Water Rinse – The spray tank cleaning should begin and end with a fresh water rinse to remove the majority of potential contaminants prior to the cleansing process or prior to the next round of spraying. Drain the tank of its previous contents and fill the tank with clean water. Open nozzle valves and pump clean water through the booms and hoses. Top up the tank with more clean water and circulate/agitate for at least 10 minutes and empty the tank of waste water. If this is the first rinse after spraying, a high pressure hose could be used to clean residue from all surfaces in the tank. Do not enter the tank during the cleaning process.
• The Detergent Rinse – After rinsing with clean water, fill spray tank and add a heavy-duty detergent at 0.25 L per 100 L of water (some suggest a non-ionic surfactant such as Agral 90 or Agsurf at 0.6 L per 100 L of water). Circulate the mixture for a minimum of 5 minutes and spray out through sprayer nozzles. Nozzles and screens are removed and cleaned individually with the same detergent solution in a small container. Soaking in this solution for several hours also helps to loosen any deposits.

The above solutions are just components of the overall sprayer cleaning process. Typical rinse instructions will repeat a combination of one or two or all of these basic rinses. Below we will give some generic rinse instructions utilizing the basic rinses as components of the larger cleaning procedure. Never enter the tank during the cleaning process as some cleansers may release dangerous gases.

• Method A – Drain contents of tank – 1 to 2X Water Rinse – 2X Ammonia Rinse – 2X Water Rinse (one just prior to the next spraying event)
• Method B – Drain contents of tank – 2X Water Rinse – 2X Detergent Rinse – 2X Water Rinse
• Method C – Drain contents of tank – Several repetitions of the Water Rinse with nozzles and screens removed and checked for debris. Products: Adrenalin, Altitude, Amitrol 240, Ares.

The above directions are general processes based on the similarities of tank cleaning recommendations between products in each of the herbicide groupings. Always follow the specific instructions on the product label.

Several products in the guide do not have label instructions regarding tank cleaning. In the case of products that have no cleaning recommendations on the label, there are some basic principals that can be applied. Products that are water based formulations can usually be cleaned from spray tanks using Method C above. Products that are formulated as an EC, SC or F (flowable) or use a petroleum based adjuvant should at least use Method B. The detergent breaks down the oil that may be sticking to the side of the tank. Products in Group 2 (most will already have a recommendation), with the exception of the ‘IMI’ products (see Table 8 in the Herbicide Resistance section), will require the use of Method A. The ammonia in Method A either increases the solubility of the product allowing it to be easily removed from the tank surfaces or speeds the breakdown of these products in water. If the product that is to be cleaned out of the tank is a combination of these elements, use a combination of Methods to clean the tank. In these cases, use a good commercial tank-cleaning product from a recognized source, with both ammonia and detergent as components.

Group 2 compounds are highly active on sensitive plants so even a small amount remaining in the sprayer can present a risk of injury. They can also occasionally be trapped on the tank walls and plumbing by petroleum based formulations or adjuvants when tank mixed with other products, resulting in tank residues that may be tougher to remove. A way to reduce the chance of this occurring is to add detergent at 0.25 L per 100 L to the Ammonia Rinse portion to assist with the breakdown of the petroleum coating so that the ammonia may rid the tank of Group 2 product.

It is very important to clean sprayers immediately after every use. With a more diverse rotation, the likelihood of damage from lack of care increases dramatically.