# 15. Farming 1995 - 2015

Becoming a fulltime sprayer operator in 1993 required that I went on quite a few courses in respect of how to use a sprayer, handling chemicals and understanding all the legislation and information that came with each different chemical.

With a new sprayer, a 'Hardy', tractor was mounted, with 24 meter wide booms (hydraulically operated), and a 1200 litre tank.

A change which came into effect at this time, which took a bit of getting used to, is that we had to use hectares  instead of acres and litres instead of pints and gallons.

The volumes of water used in applying chemicals was reduced, it now became normal to use only 100 litres a hectare. With a 12 hectare load (30 acres) I could spray the entire wheat crop in a quarter of the time it took with the old sprayer.

The National Registration of Sprayer Operators came into being in about 1996. I think, it was originally set up by farmers on a voluntary basis, but it soon became law. I joined from the start. Lots of information was published and given out on all aspects of spraying. An ID card was issued, which had on it what type of spraying equipment I was qualified to use. From then on, once a year I attended a seminar to keep me up to date on new spraying practices or changes in laws.

Lots of other rules and laws to do with sprayers and spraying, also came into effect at this time. All types of sprayers on your farm would have to have a yearly M.O.T. These were carried out by fully trained independent engineers. This made sure that there were no leaks, all hoses were sound, pressures were true to the meter readings, the correct amount of water came out of whatever size nozzles you used, and so on.

It became law to have a specified chemical store, with proper shelving for storing different chemicals, a raised step on entrance to contain any spillage and of course be lockable. A register of all chemicals was kept. Also, a more detailed daily record of the chemicals that were applied:  what chemical was being used; how much per hectare; litres of water per hectare; which wheat fields it was sprayed on; what time of day; and  weather conditions (wind strength, cloudy or sunny and temperature).

These are just some of the new legislations that came into force in the late 1990's, more were to come.

Annual inspections came into force to make sure all of these rules and regulations were adhered to.

Professional agronomists are employed to tell the farmer as to what chemicals are needed, what dosages to use and when they are to be applied.

**Slug Pellets**

In reply to Kay Horne's question last month about the use of slug pellets. Farms still use slug pellets. The chemical Metaldehyde, that was used in most pellets, was banned several years ago. Alternative safer chemicals are now used. They are available from the 'Range' and contain an iron-based chemical, although they still look the same, blue. They are dyed blue because birds do not associate this colour as food. Pellets with metaldehyde have been responsible for killing, mainly dogs, but some horses and ponies, due to a spillage or a hole in the bag. Molasses is used to hold the chemical and form it into pellet shape and unfortunately, these animals cannot resist the smell and taste of it. Another reason for the banning was that if this chemical gets into a water system it is one of the chemicals that cannot be filtered out. When I last applied slug pellets you were not allowed to broadcast them within 6 metres of a water course and only 2 applications a year.

*Terry Marsh*

Originally published in the Monkton News (November 2025).