8.4 Choosing the Application Method

Choosing the Application Method

Section 8.1 covered sprayer hardware and Section 8.2 covered calibration. This section covers the decision that comes first: which application method is right for this pest, this site, and this formulation? It is an examinable CORE area in its own right — 40 CFR 171.103(c)(7) — with four listed competencies.

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1. Methods by Placement

+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|                     APPLICATION METHODS BY PLACEMENT                        |
|                                                                             |
|   [BROADCAST]        Uniform coverage over an entire area.                  |
|                      Row crops, turf, rights-of-way, forests.               |
|                                                                             |
|   [BAND]             Narrow strip over or beside the crop row only.         |
|                      Treats a fraction of the field area; large savings.    |
|                                                                             |
|   [DIRECTED]         Aimed at the target while deliberately avoiding the    |
|                      crop. Makes a non-selective product behave selectively.|
|                                                                             |
|   [SPOT]             Small, discrete infestations only. Least product used. |
|                                                                             |
|   [BASAL / STUMP]    Applied to lower stem, root collar, or cut surface     |
|                      of woody plants. Common in Category 6 right-of-way.    |
|                                                                             |
|   [CRACK & CREVICE]  Minute amounts into structural voids where pests       |
|                      harbor. Category 7A staple.                            |
|                                                                             |
|   [PERIMETER]        Treated band around a structure's exterior.            |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+

Why banding matters on the exam: if a 30-inch row spacing is treated with a 10-inch band, roughly one-third of the field surface receives product. The per-acre-of-band rate stays at the labeled rate, but the product purchased per field acre falls proportionally. Banding is the single clearest illustration of method selection reducing unnecessary use, which is exactly what 40 CFR 171.103(c)(7)(iii) asks about.

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2. Methods by Formulation and Physical State

[!IMPORTANT] Chemigation demands backflow protection. When pesticide is applied through irrigation water, the connection between the chemical supply and the water source is a cross-connection. The system must include anti-siphon and check-valve protection with an interlock so that pesticide cannot reverse-flow into a well or surface source, and so that chemical injection stops if the water flow stops. The label states the required safety devices, and it is enforceable.

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3. The Selection Decision

Work the question in this order:

1. What is the target pest, and where does it live? A cockroach harboring in a wall void is not a broadcast problem; a field of emerged waterhemp is not a crack-and-crevice problem.
2. What does the label authorize for this site? The label lists the sites and the methods. If the label does not authorize the method for this site, the method is off the table regardless of how well it would work.
3. Is the product contact or systemic? Contact chemistry demands coverage; systemic chemistry demands timing.
4. What is downwind, downslope, and downstream? Sensitive crops, water, apiaries, and dwellings push the decision toward coarser droplets, granular formulations, or placement methods with no drift at all.
5. What is the minimum treatment that solves the problem? Spot beats band; band beats broadcast — when the pest distribution allows it.

Proper use, unnecessary use, and misuse

40 CFR 171.103(c)(7)(iii) draws these three lines explicitly:

• Proper use — the method, rate, timing, and site all match the label and the pest problem.
• Unnecessary or ineffective use — treating where no pest threshold exists, broadcasting what should have been spot-treated, or applying a contact product with coverage too poor to work. Legal, but wasteful and stewardship-negative.
• Misuse — a method or site the label does not authorize. This is a use inconsistent with the labeling, violating FIFRA Section 12(a)(2)(G) and RSMo 281.101, even when the product and rate are perfect.

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4. Method Choice as Drift Control

The most reliable way to eliminate drift is to choose a method that does not generate driftable droplets.

Remember that Missouri requires the air temperature, measured wind speed, and wind direction in the record for every outdoor application (2 CSR 70-25.120(4)(M)). Choosing a low-drift method does not excuse the measurement — but it does mean the measurement is far more likely to support you if a complaint arrives.

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5. Recordkeeping Note

2 CSR 70-25.120(4)(F) requires the size of the area treated in square feet, linear feet, acres, or similar units — but it excludes indoor spot and crack-and-crevice applications. Structural applicators still record every other element, including the product, EPA registration number, target pest, and start and end times. The weather element (M) likewise excludes general structural and termite work performed within ten feet (10') of a building.