EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Spray drift, the off-target movement of herbicides and pesticides, negatively impacts agricultural production across Australia. The problem is particularly acute in mixed cropping regions where a diverse range of chemicals may be applied at any given time. Although industry organisations have developed and implemented an impressive set of technologies, education programs and workshops aimed at improving spray solutions across multiple agriculture sectors, the problem persists.

This project used theory and methods from the behavioural sciences to:

1) Identify the main drivers and barriers to engagement in best-practice spray application at three time points: Before spraying, during spraying and after spraying.

2) Identify the number and nature of grower segments based on their current practices before, during, and after spraying.

3) Identify the main leverage points to initiate and sustain behaviour changes to reduce spray drift.

4) Recommend targeted engagement strategies for segments that are not engaged in best-practice spraying.

Using interviews of key industry stakeholders, and an online grower survey we identified seven behaviours that, if adopted, would produce the greatest reduction in spray drift:

1) Before spraying:

a. Using online mapping tools to register crop locations

b. Checking online sources for sensitive areas

c. Discussing spray plans with neighbours.

2) During spraying:

a. Driving at recommended speed

b. Spraying when conditions (Delta-T, low risk of surface inversion, wind speed) were suitable.

3) After spraying:

a. Decontaminating spray equipment appropriately

b. Keeping accurate records.

Audience segmentation analyses identified 3 grower segments for the before-spraying behaviours (Disengaged, Partially engaged and Engaged), 3 grower segments for the during-spray behaviours (Disengaged, Partially engaged and Occasional speeders) and 2 grower segments for the after-spraying behaviours (Disengaged and Engaged). Discriminant analysis identified the primary barriers (classified as capabilities, opportunities and motivations) for each of the behavioural segments that were not engaged in best-practice spray behaviours:

1) Before spraying (Not registering or checking online mapping tools):

a. Not being aware of the mapping tools (capability)

b. Not having the time to check the online sources (opportunity)

c. Not knowing anyone else who used the mapping tool (motivation).

2) Before spraying (Not discussing spray plans with neighbours):

a. Bad relationships between neighbours (capability and motivation)

b. Growers saw no need to discuss plans (motivation).

3) During spraying (Not driving at recommended speed):

a. Not enough time when conditions are suitable (opportunity)

b. Not aware of the link between speed and spray drift (capability)

c. Need to complete job (motivation)

d. Field conditions (opportunity)

e. Perception of reduced efficiency at slower speeds (motivation).

4) During spraying (Not spraying when conditions were suitable):

a. No flexibility with the contractors /staff resulting in spraying when somebody was available to do so regardless of conditions (opportunity)

b. Beliefs that their crop production took precedence, getting the job completed was the priority and spray drift was not an important issue (motivation)

c. Perception that everyone cuts corners and sprays in less than ideal conditions so it was acceptable for them to do so as well (motivation)

d. Knowledge about when conditions were suitable to spray (capability)

e. Perception that no-one would know anyway if they did spray in less than ideal conditions (motivation).

5) After spraying (decontaminating spray equipment):

a. Awareness of the need to decontaminate (capability)

b. Having the time to perform decontamination (opportunity)

c. Having a suitable location to decontaminate (opportunity)

d. Perceiving decontamination as important (motivation).

6) After spraying (keeping accurate records):

a. Awareness of the need to keep records (capability)

b. Forgetfulness (capability)

c. Perception that no-one was going to check anyway (motivation)

d. Not knowing anyone else who kept records (motivation).

Based on these results, we recommended which behaviour change techniques would be most suitable to remove and circumvent these barriers to achieve maximum on-ground impact. Further research is needed to implement and evaluate behaviour change interventions based on the results from the current research. This implementation and evaluation lies outside of the scope of the present project.