TJ and Kendra Morris stand beside a custom-made sprayer that will be shipped to the Missouri Department of Transportation this week. The injection sprayer saves both labor and chemical for the department. "People are always asking what we do," Kendra said. "This is an example." The pair own and operate Superior Industries east of the truck route in Superior.
The final installment of 32 unique sprayers ship this week from Superior Industries to the Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) .
About two years ago, TJ Morris began drawing plans in collaboration with the Missouri Invasive Strike Team. The team is a partnership between the Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT), Missouri Prairie Foundation and the Missouri Department of Conservation.
"The Missouri Prairie Foundation came up with the ideas and TJ figured out how to do it," Kendra Morris said. TJ and Kendra, a husband and wife team, own and operate Superior Industries.
The first sprayers were made last summer and sold to the Missouri Department of Conservation who in turn loaned the sprayers to the MoDOT.
"MoDOT reported the sprayer units saved them enough money in chemical and labor costs to pay for a sprayer in one season, so this year they ordered their own," Kendra said.
The compact sprayers fit onto a MoDOT SUV bed or a pickup truck and have a relative low profile. Each consists of water and chemical storage tanks, an injection pump, toggle switches on a central control panel, hose and the equipment needed to a control the amount of chemical mixed with water during spraying.
The sprayers can be used to spray only water or up to three individual chemicals without pre-mixing. A combination of chemicals can also be used. Chemicals are carried in 2.5 gallon containers and can be returned to their original containers for storage because they are never mixed with water prior to application.
"Chemical injection is consistently highly accurate every time," Kendra said.
The units are also fitted with a a foaming agent. Thus an SUV with a sprayer unit can move directly from spraying unwanted species to working with a controlled burn where the sprayer can be used to spray only water or water with an added foaming agent often used to control fires.
The Missouri Strike Team listed versatility, productivity and multi-tasking and cost efficiency as advantages. The units are being used during both the summer and winter-spring spraying seasons. Johnsongrass and Sericea are two of the main species targeted by the MoDOT during June and July. In the winter, some antifreeze can be added to the injector tanks as a substitute for water in the premix and the units are stored where they do not freeze. The department has found winter spraying as a way to extend their area of control.
Species of concern include herbaceous broadleaves like Japanese Stiltgrass, Perilla Mint, Sweetclovers, Crown Vetch, Thistles and Kudza; woodies and vines like Japanese Honeysuckle, Bush Honeysuckle and Autumn Olive. Their goal is to control undesirable species without harming desirable wildflowers and grass. MoDOT reports having a choice of herbicides greatly expands their capabilities to control a number of serious concerns in their area without having to cover the same area multiple times with different equipment.
Labor costs and chemical costs per acre are about equal for the MoDOT strike team. They indicate a sprayer pays for itself in chemical costs savings on about the first 700 acres. When labor costs are considered in addition to chemical costs, a sprayer pays for itself in 350 acres.
"It has been a big project for us," Kendra said.
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