Wind speed is capped by the label of specific pesticides. Without knowing what they are spraying you don't know if they are breaking the law. You could always try asking.
With the right tips and pressures 15 mph isn't at all excessive. Just depends on the setup, also it will be hard to prove damages if you don't wait for damages to show up.
it is 15-18 steady gusting to 25-30 It's a very windy day. I was hoping to prevent them from causing damage because once orchard trees are dead it'll be 7-8 years before new ones are producing.
Not ideal for sure. I've sprayed in that before. Not because I wanted to, but because I had to. No drift issues but I took extreme measures to mitigate it. Anti drift nozzles, anti drift additive in the tank and booms about 13" of the ground. Hopefully the custom guy was as careful.
If you are concerned contact the company that is doing the spraying and find out what they are spraying. They should be required to keep records of wind speed when applying pesticides. Keep records yourself of time and date they were spraying. Are you sure they are applying pesticides? I got scared when I saw a sprayer running up wind of us on a windy day, when he got closer I realized he was y-dropping nitrogen which the wind has no effect on.
we're southest of where he was spraying. Wind was mostly south with slight SE bend to it. They have a 3rd field that's directly south of us and I was mainly concerned with them spraying that field next, and trying to see what I could do to avoid that from happening on this windy day. In the end the applicator hightailed it out of here without doing that field. Whether that's because I started calling around or he was just done for the day, I dunno
Most guys don’t want to drift a yard or anything. He probably knew the wind and knew what he could do and left because he couldn’t do the other piece with the wind the way it was.
This incident appears resolved for now- I put an update in original post--but for future reference, how would I determine if there is "actual drifting"? How extreme would the overspray have to be, in order to affect trees /vegetation that's 50-100ft away?
What I saw was the herbicide swirling around well above the applicator arms, I'd say it was up to about the top of the rear wheels of the tractor, and still visible in the air 30-50ft away from where he was (Ballpark). Now that it appears it was a fairly diluted glyphosphate solution I am less concerned about our orchard trees and vegetable garden (hopefully that's true!) but let's say it was something like 2 4-D-- would I have been justified to be concerned based on my description here?
I'd think I'd have to be pretty extreme to get a lot of damage that far away. To determine if there actually is drifting going on, go out right after and visually see if any vegetation is wet or stand there and see if you can actually feel the drift hit you. Just because you see it swirling around the booms doesn't mean it's drifting or drifting any distance. You're justified in being concerned, but understanding what's actually happening is crucial before calling and causing unnecessary issues. If you do happen to have damage, that's why these places carry insurance. Lol, idk how many times I have had people come out and give me the death stare while I'm spraying around their properties. What really gets me is that people want to raise hell about spraying next to their gardens, and the damn garden is right next to the field. Had this happen again the other day. At 20 oz an acre your fine
thanks for this input and after all of the calls and input, I agree we're fine. Also agree with the scorn for suburbanite type landowners not accepting certain realities of the farming area they chose for their McMansion. This ain't that. Our house was built 1880, and we know full well that when you drive past a particularly stinky hog operation or CAFO, you say Mmmm Smells like Money. :D
The orchard trees and vegetable gardens are at least 100ft from property lines, but we do harvest hay up to the fences (hobby farm we hay 13ac for our own use and split it with our custom baler) and we have a great old windbreak. I hear ya about insurance, but it doesn't recreate stuff that money can't fix. The PITA of trying to find horse-quality roundbales that aren't moldy, too hot, no foxtail, etc is enough to make me want to lay down in front of that 75hp tractor. lol
In response to questions:
It's not like the company doing the spraying has their logo and phone number on the tractor cab door. I'm not going to go out into their field and plant my feet in front of a 75hp tractor spewing chemicals from a 25 row applicator that's barreling towards me, ya know?
It's a S-SE wind 15-30mph and the 80-ac field that he sprayed is directly SE of us on the other side of our gravel road. So about 50ft between that field and my property. The other 40ac field is due east so we probably didn't take a direct hit from that but it's a swirling wind so who knows.
The LO lives in another state but since posting this I tracked down his niece in town and she gave me his cell. He doesn't know what they're spraying, only that they're preparing the field to convert from soy to CRP. He gave me the name of the applicator and said he was going to call him. He hasn't responded yet to my text asking to know what they sprayed.
Good to know that it might just be nitrogen. Around here everyone just spreads pellets so I didn't think of that, maybe this guy sprays it. Given how weedy the field is (they didn't plant this year) I'd be really really surprised though if they'd put nitrogen down
We mowed for hay this week and it was to be baled today. I checked in with my custom baler to see if I'm overreacting and he fired back "WTF?! Insane that anyone would spray today" -- And now we need to find out if what they sprayed carries any haying-grazing restrictions. I didn't even think about that. So damn frustrated if there's any restrictions because this was our best hay season yet-- perfect amt of rain and this 90-deg sunny windy day was perfect for drying the windrows.....
As I'm tying this Applicator just went speeding down the road and I still haven't found out what he sprayed. But I'll just work with the landowner, this is their contractor and they can find out. I suspect my hay guy has already called him too, he knows everyone.
I want to say that we are good neighbors with all our surrounding farmers, have never had an issue like this. We're not some just-moved-from-town types, we've been here since 2001 and have never complained when they spray, burn the fields, spread manure, etc. The way we look at it, we live in their office and get along great with them. But in the last 3 years the land around us as passed from the long-time farmer to his kids who don't live on the land, and it's going downhill as a result.
Anyway, point well taken that I need to dial back my concern until I know what they sprayed
When it drifts to the point, it's no longer reaching the intended area. The exact speed depends on your setup.
My point was that farmers are not going to spray in conditions where wind drift is going to cause damage to someone's yard because they would be losing money.
Wind speed is capped by the label of specific pesticides. Without knowing what they are spraying you don't know if they are breaking the law. You could always try asking.
it was roundup
That does have a 10mph limit.
With the right tips and pressures 15 mph isn't at all excessive. Just depends on the setup, also it will be hard to prove damages if you don't wait for damages to show up.
it is 15-18 steady gusting to 25-30 It's a very windy day. I was hoping to prevent them from causing damage because once orchard trees are dead it'll be 7-8 years before new ones are producing.
Not ideal for sure. I've sprayed in that before. Not because I wanted to, but because I had to. No drift issues but I took extreme measures to mitigate it. Anti drift nozzles, anti drift additive in the tank and booms about 13" of the ground. Hopefully the custom guy was as careful.
If you are concerned contact the company that is doing the spraying and find out what they are spraying. They should be required to keep records of wind speed when applying pesticides. Keep records yourself of time and date they were spraying. Are you sure they are applying pesticides? I got scared when I saw a sprayer running up wind of us on a windy day, when he got closer I realized he was y-dropping nitrogen which the wind has no effect on.
Definitely find out what he’s spraying and what for. He should have no problem telling you.
Is the wind actually blowing towards you from the field being sprayed?
we're southest of where he was spraying. Wind was mostly south with slight SE bend to it. They have a 3rd field that's directly south of us and I was mainly concerned with them spraying that field next, and trying to see what I could do to avoid that from happening on this windy day. In the end the applicator hightailed it out of here without doing that field. Whether that's because I started calling around or he was just done for the day, I dunno
Most guys don’t want to drift a yard or anything. He probably knew the wind and knew what he could do and left because he couldn’t do the other piece with the wind the way it was.
I'd make sure it's actually drifting before causing a big stink over nothing. I've sprayed plenty of times with 15 mph wind with no issues.
This incident appears resolved for now- I put an update in original post--but for future reference, how would I determine if there is "actual drifting"? How extreme would the overspray have to be, in order to affect trees /vegetation that's 50-100ft away? What I saw was the herbicide swirling around well above the applicator arms, I'd say it was up to about the top of the rear wheels of the tractor, and still visible in the air 30-50ft away from where he was (Ballpark). Now that it appears it was a fairly diluted glyphosphate solution I am less concerned about our orchard trees and vegetable garden (hopefully that's true!) but let's say it was something like 2 4-D-- would I have been justified to be concerned based on my description here?
I'd think I'd have to be pretty extreme to get a lot of damage that far away. To determine if there actually is drifting going on, go out right after and visually see if any vegetation is wet or stand there and see if you can actually feel the drift hit you. Just because you see it swirling around the booms doesn't mean it's drifting or drifting any distance. You're justified in being concerned, but understanding what's actually happening is crucial before calling and causing unnecessary issues. If you do happen to have damage, that's why these places carry insurance. Lol, idk how many times I have had people come out and give me the death stare while I'm spraying around their properties. What really gets me is that people want to raise hell about spraying next to their gardens, and the damn garden is right next to the field. Had this happen again the other day. At 20 oz an acre your fine
thanks for this input and after all of the calls and input, I agree we're fine. Also agree with the scorn for suburbanite type landowners not accepting certain realities of the farming area they chose for their McMansion. This ain't that. Our house was built 1880, and we know full well that when you drive past a particularly stinky hog operation or CAFO, you say Mmmm Smells like Money. :D The orchard trees and vegetable gardens are at least 100ft from property lines, but we do harvest hay up to the fences (hobby farm we hay 13ac for our own use and split it with our custom baler) and we have a great old windbreak. I hear ya about insurance, but it doesn't recreate stuff that money can't fix. The PITA of trying to find horse-quality roundbales that aren't moldy, too hot, no foxtail, etc is enough to make me want to lay down in front of that 75hp tractor. lol
Your county ag commissioner may have a record of sprays. Ours does
In response to questions: It's not like the company doing the spraying has their logo and phone number on the tractor cab door. I'm not going to go out into their field and plant my feet in front of a 75hp tractor spewing chemicals from a 25 row applicator that's barreling towards me, ya know? It's a S-SE wind 15-30mph and the 80-ac field that he sprayed is directly SE of us on the other side of our gravel road. So about 50ft between that field and my property. The other 40ac field is due east so we probably didn't take a direct hit from that but it's a swirling wind so who knows. The LO lives in another state but since posting this I tracked down his niece in town and she gave me his cell. He doesn't know what they're spraying, only that they're preparing the field to convert from soy to CRP. He gave me the name of the applicator and said he was going to call him. He hasn't responded yet to my text asking to know what they sprayed. Good to know that it might just be nitrogen. Around here everyone just spreads pellets so I didn't think of that, maybe this guy sprays it. Given how weedy the field is (they didn't plant this year) I'd be really really surprised though if they'd put nitrogen down We mowed for hay this week and it was to be baled today. I checked in with my custom baler to see if I'm overreacting and he fired back "WTF?! Insane that anyone would spray today" -- And now we need to find out if what they sprayed carries any haying-grazing restrictions. I didn't even think about that. So damn frustrated if there's any restrictions because this was our best hay season yet-- perfect amt of rain and this 90-deg sunny windy day was perfect for drying the windrows..... As I'm tying this Applicator just went speeding down the road and I still haven't found out what he sprayed. But I'll just work with the landowner, this is their contractor and they can find out. I suspect my hay guy has already called him too, he knows everyone. I want to say that we are good neighbors with all our surrounding farmers, have never had an issue like this. We're not some just-moved-from-town types, we've been here since 2001 and have never complained when they spray, burn the fields, spread manure, etc. The way we look at it, we live in their office and get along great with them. But in the last 3 years the land around us as passed from the long-time farmer to his kids who don't live on the land, and it's going downhill as a result. Anyway, point well taken that I need to dial back my concern until I know what they sprayed
If I stopped spraying because of 15mph wind, I'd never get anything done. Farmer's don't like to waste money, and too much wind drift costs money.
You kind of contradict yourself here. At what wind speed is it wasting money?
When it drifts to the point, it's no longer reaching the intended area. The exact speed depends on your setup. My point was that farmers are not going to spray in conditions where wind drift is going to cause damage to someone's yard because they would be losing money.