Herbicide Drift from Farm Fields?

[so lucky]

Does anyone have to deal with chemical drift from neighboring farm fields? My mom swore that that ruined her flowers one year, from a farmer spraying on a windy day. Something sure got her flowers, but I don't know 100% that it wasn't Dad applying chemicals with missing labels. Anyway, there is a small acreage on two sides of us. The owner planted something yesterday with a planter that looked like it had sprayers on it too. Couldn't tell if it was spraying or not--Don't think it was. Is that something that is done? Spraying Round-up at the same time they plant? I had a bunch of peppers and tomatoes in a green house get damaged by what I suspected was 2,4-D drift from a neighbor spraying his lawn years ago. (fan sucked it in) Do people have problems with herbicide/pesticide drift very much or is it my imagination? And if so, what do you do about it?

 

[catjac1975]

Does anyone have to deal with chemical drift from neighboring farm fields? My mom swore that that ruined her flowers one year, from a farmer spraying on a windy day. Something sure got her flowers, but I don't know 100% that it wasn't Dad applying chemicals with missing labels. Anyway, there is a small acreage on two sides of us. The owner planted something yesterday with a planter that looked like it had sprayers on it too. Couldn't tell if it was spraying or not--Don't think it was. Is that something that is done? Spraying Round-up at the same time they plant? I had a bunch of peppers and tomatoes in a green house get damaged by what I suspected was 2,4-D drift from a neighbor spraying his lawn years ago. (fan sucked it in) Do people have problems with herbicide/pesticide drift very much or is it my imagination? And if so, what do you do about it?

They need to ask the farmer. I think there are enough laws to protect neighbors that they need at least to give them a straight answer. I can't imagine spraying roundup on a crop and expecting it to grow. There are pre emergent herbicides but I don't know if you could put them where you expect seed to grow. I have read where drift has caused lawsuits where an organic farmer lost their organic status because of drift. There are also organic pre emergent herbicides. Maybe it was a sprayer that they were not using at the time. But they will certainly be using it if they bought it. They need to take to them.

 

[vfem]

Some farms work on a schedule and don't care or factor in what the weather is like, they just get it done. I have LOTS of fields around me, and I have to be very careful on what the spray and when. The winds here can be quite awful and there are times I can smell the chemicals in the air. Its hard to tell what it is exactly they sprayed and when, but they should go ask straight up what the are doing if its affecting their plants and gardens!

 

[digitS']

Greenhouse fans can certainly suck herbicides in. We used to ask the neighbors across the street from the greenhouse when they were going to do that. We'd close up the ventilation for several hours.

What's the old saying? "Shoot first, apologize later." Might be all you can get after the fact. Some right-to-farm laws allow not only family farmers but the food industry to have a fairly clear shot at doing just about anything.

Our family farm was near orchards and they were often sprayed with airplanes. On year, our cattle ran right thru the fences trying to get away from the aerial bombardment.

So lucky, I would water everything thoroughly whenever I thought there was a chance of pesticide drift. You have a reason to be concerned.

Steve

 

[so lucky]

Good idea. Thanks, Steve.