Andrew Kennedy

Video Overview

Andrew Kennedy from Kennedy Spraying Services in Mount Gambier, South Australia is a contract sprayer with over 35 years’ experience in the spraying industry. Kennedy Spraying Services cover a wide variety of spraying throughout the South East of South Australia and Western Districts of Victoria.

Kennedy Spraying Services operate a range of spray equipment. In 2020, they fitted a MagGrow system to one of their bespoke 24m MAN spray trucks. Spraying seed crops is a big part of their spraying operation, for which coverage is of pivotal importance, especially in the lower canopy of the crop. Many of these crops have dense and difficult canopies to attain coverage in. Using MagGrow technology, Andrew has been able to significantly increase his coverage in the lower canopy of the crop, delivering greater disease and pest control for his customers.

With the assistance of the MagGrow Team, Andrew conducted a trial on a carrot seed crop. Insect pest and disease pressure pose significant risk to the yield and quality (germination %) of seed carrot crops, with 2020/2021 representing a particularly challenging year due to unfavourable weather conditions. The complex, dense foliage, often reaching a height of 150cm+, is a particularly challenging spray application target, specifically with reference to the delivery of plant protection products to the lower portion of the canopy.

A field trial was conducted in March 2021, to provide direct comparison between achievable coverage with a sprayer fitted with a MagGrow system and a conventional sprayer, specifically in the lower canopy of a seed carrot crop. Two nozzles were used to compare the difference in spray coverage of different spray quality categorisations: ‘very course’ (approx. 401-500μm) (grower standard), and ‘medium’ (approx. 226-325μm).

MagGrow outperformed the conventional sprayer on both nozzles tested, showing a significant increase in coverage by 52.4% using the Lechler IDTA-02 nozzles and an increase of 63.3% using the Hypro (John Deere) GAT 110-02 nozzles.
Since installing MagGrow, Andrew has greatly reduced drift, increased coverage and increased the productivity and efficiency of his spraying practices. The MagGrow system is allowing Andrew to increase his spray days as he has greater drift control in windier conditions.

Andrew Kennedy commented “I can immediately see the benefits MagGrow has delivered to the spray application. The system has greatly reduced drift, increased coverage and increased the productivity of my spraying practices. This enables better crop protection for our growers, delivering greater disease and pest control leading to better crop health. MagGrow will also provide greater compliance towards increasingly stricter environmental legislation.”