Vinyards beware

[jinman]

I just read this article in the local newspaper. What about you vineyard owners on TBN? Is 2,4D drift a problem for your area? This particular vineyard, Brushy Creek, is located right beside a Burlington Northern railway and US Highway 287. I can understand his problem with herbicide drift. I just was not aware that it was a problem in many places here. What do you think?

Wind-blown Herbicides

 

[Jimmyp5]

I just read this article in the local newspaper. What about you vineyard owners on TBN? Is 2,4D drift a problem for your area? This particular vineyard, Brushy Creek, is located right beside a Burlington Northern railway and US Highway 287. I can understand his problem with herbicide drift. I just was not aware that it was a problem in many places here. What do you think?

Wind-blown Herbicides

It not just got Les (Brushy Creek)., it took out some over in Mantanque County (SP), Howard's vineyard took a major hit. 2-4D is a restricted product in Texas, you can't buy if at Lowes etc, in larger than quarts. What happen is some rancher had it sprayed via a crop duster!! Which is in violation of Federal Law for this product. The guy next door to me saw my grape libruary and asked about 2-4D before spraying his fields... he understood the drift and half life issue with the product. He will only use 2-4D prior to March 15 of any year (before the grapes decide it time to come out)...after that he uses a diffrent methiod, he now has also learned why his wifes roses always seemed to die, and our's grow like weeds.

 

[tallyho8]

We had a case here last year where a farmer sprayed and it drifted all the way across the Mississippi River and killed another farmer's crops.

 

[jinman]

Thanks Jimmy. I've heard of many people suggesting the use of 2,4-D herbicide here on TBN. I never heard anyone talk about the product vaporizing due to heat and travelling with the wind to other folks' crops. That makes it a dangerous chemical for sure. Many people who have larger vegetable, soybean, or cotton crops would also see some problems and would want its use strictly controlled. As stated in the Wise County Messenger article, it's hard to prove and hard to trace, especially if you are surrounded by hay fields.

 

[Robert_in_NY]

I just read this article in the local newspaper. What about you vineyard owners on TBN? Is 2,4D drift a problem for your area? This particular vineyard, Brushy Creek, is located right beside a Burlington Northern railway and US Highway 287. I can understand his problem with herbicide drift. I just was not aware that it was a problem in many places here. What do you think?

Wind-blown Herbicides

2-4d is very bad for vineyards and is illegal to use within a half mile or more (can't remember) in our county. The problem is TSC and every other farm supply store sells 2-4d with no warning but if someone puts it down and destroys a vineyard they are liable for the damages and that can add up real quick.

 

[Robert_in_NY]

Thanks Jimmy. I've heard of many people suggesting the use of 2,4-D herbicide here on TBN. I never heard anyone talk about the product vaporizing due to heat and travelling with the wind to other folks' crops. That makes it a dangerous chemical for sure. Many people who have larger vegetable, soybean, or cotton crops would also see some problems and would want its use strictly controlled. As stated in the Wise County Messenger article, it's hard to prove and hard to trace, especially if you are surrounded by hay fields.

I have warned others on here before about the threat of 2-4d vaporizing and destroying vineyards.

There are a lot of times I wish I could use it here but instead I have to buy specialized sprays designed to work in and around vineyards. Oh yeah, specialized sprays cost a lot of money.

 

[Bird]

I'm glad to see this thread because I had no idea 2,4-d was that bad. I bought a quart of Gordon's Amine 400 2,4-d at Ace Hardware last year and used a little bit in a 2 gallon pump-up sprayer last year and again this year to spot spray some places in my yard, and it definitely works, but I didn't know about it vaporizing, spreading, etc.

 

[DocHeb]

The amine 2, 4-d is less volatile than the ester, and this chemical really demonstrates a case where a little of a chemical may be better than a lot.

 

[Bird]

The amine 2, 4-d is less volatile than the ester, and this chemical really demonstrates a case where a little of a chemical may be better than a lot.

I learned last year that a little too much of this stuff is hard on the grass, so this year, I used even less, and I've still got more than enough for next year, too.

 

[chh]

Some of the cotton crops in southwestern Ok took a pretty good hit from 2,4-D last year. It is not regulated very closely in OK, yet. Wind is generally the biggest factor and it is recommended not to spray in wind conditions over 10 mph. From what I understand most of the problems come from incorrect aerial application and from farm spray rigs with the pressure turned up high enough to vaporize(or make very small droplets) instead of large droplets while spraying in windy conditions. In the 2 years that I have used it on my pastures I have not damaged my wifes or neighbors gardens or roses so it is not that hard to do correctly.

A family moved into an area near Tulsa, I think, and has been attempting to start a vineyard on some other property there. The lady went around to all the area's long time ranchers/farmers and "educated" them on spray drift. So far they have had 3 arson fires in the vineyard and other incidents of crop damage(but no spray drift). From the newspaper reports it seems she may not have been very "polite" in her "education" attempts.

 

[jinman]

Well, I'm certainly learning a lot with this thread, including that I should check the spelling of my thread title more closely.

I will not misspell vineyard.
I will not misspell vineyard.
I will not misspell vineyard. . . .

 

[Bird]

Hey, you did misspell it and I hadn't noticed and probably wouldn't have if you hadn't 'fessed up.

 

[Haoleguy]

Have not heard much about 2,4-d drift problems in the grape growing areas of the west and northeast so I thought I would take a look into it within the literature. Sensitivity of european varieties(Vitis vinifera wine grapes) to 2,4-D at different concentrations and time of application during the growing season demonstrated by UC Davis researchers in the mid 1960s. The following article seems to identify the problem as more common to the central US regions where vineyards are flanked by larger crop farms...Wines & Vines - Wine Industry News Headlines - Midwestern Vineyards Face Special Threats. I know that vineyards that choose to use chemical herbicides choose Roundup and many are moving away from chemistry and to new mechanical technologies...tractor attachments. Chemical drift has become a hot topic within the viticulture business as many in humid areas have an aggressive fungicidal program during the growing season which generates waste, higher cost, and potential health consequences. Many equipment companies have recently developed sprayers with better focus spraying and in some cases capturing airborne spray that does not hit target. New herbicidal sprayers for the vineyard follow in and around the vines with a dome localizing the spray to the ground. I like these technical advances and can only hope they lead to minimize chemical use in the future.

 

[jinman]

That's a good link Haoleguy. Thanks!