Farmer spraying - should I be worried

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Marigold4

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This morning I was out in my field poo-picking when a farm-worker was spraying in the field next to mine. There was a fairly strong northerly wind blowing and whatever he was spraying was going downwind. I got sprayed (thought he was going to turn in a different direction) and the north end of my field was sprayed. You could see whatever it was drifting in the wind.

What do you think they were spraying for? Their field had a root crop in it in the winter and then sheep. They usually plant maize or wheat in that field in the summer. Should I fence of the north part of the field to stop the horses grazing there?

Before you say it, no, I can't ask the farmer. I rent the field from him and he is somewhat irascible. Don't fancy an earful.
 
That's really careless of the farm 😕 I would fence the area off definitely and preferably wait till the grass is long enough to top so none is ingested. Depends what's being grown but fungicide or herbicide would be possible for wheat or maize at this time of year.
 
Spraying sheets must be filled in before any spraying takes place, details included are chemical mix & weather conditions. Spray should not be allowed to drift onto surrounded fields or other areas, this is very serious. If you cannot ask the farmer directly you can contact DEFRA who can inspect spraying sheets at any time. If they have sprayed with total weed killer it will literally kill everything including your grass. I’d speak to the farmer today about your concerns, the fact that you were also sprayed is a complete no no! Edited to add definitely fence that area off from your horses.
 
Grassy said:
Spraying sheets must be filled in before any spraying takes place, details included are chemical mix & weather conditions. Spray should not be allowed to drift onto surrounded fields or other areas, this is very serious. If you cannot ask the farmer directly you can contact DEFRA who can inspect spraying sheets at any time. If they have sprayed with total weed killer it will literally kill everything including your grass. I’d speak to the farmer today about your concerns, the fact that you were also sprayed is a complete no no! Edited to add definitely fence that area off from your horses.
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Thanks for replying. I honestly daren't speak to the farmer or DEFRA. I rent my field from him and cannot afford to be seen as someone who makes a "fuss". I'm willing to tackle most people, but not in this instance. I've fenced off the area affected and will see what happens to the grass up that end. There is a wildlife strip all around his field so I guess that got sprayed as well!
 
If there was a fallow/winter crop and they're planning to use it this summer, it will most likely be herbicide, in preparation for ploughing/direct drilling of the summer crop. I used to have this trouble in my garden, which was tiny and backed onto a field. My windows were sprayed every year with all sorts and I had to close all windows to prevent the inside of the house being done, too. Equally unapproachable farmer with God complex, so I do feel for you. Are there any public RoW across or next to the land? Would you get away with an anon report as a passerby?
 
Weed killer id say if theyre getting ready to plant crop
I’d keep your horses off it for awhile definitely not good to digest
Can be bad on eyes so keep an eye on yourself
 
I feel for you. OH and I regularly have these arguements. His reply is always its safe enough to drink to which I yell "go on then" (to date he has never called my bluff and drank any)

He shouldn't have been doing it in the breeze, Its been difficult recently as its all systems go and things really need getting on with but it has been too windy to spray.
 
poiuytrewq said:
I feel for you. OH and I regularly have these arguements. His reply is always its safe enough to drink to which I yell "go on then" (to date he has never called my bluff and drank any)

He shouldn't have been doing it in the breeze, Its been difficult recently as its all systems go and things really need getting on with but it has been too windy to spray.
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They're toxins, of course they're not safe to drink, unless you like not having a functioning gut microbiome, among other things.
 
Spraying anything shouldn’t be done on a breezy day.
It sounds like it’ll be RoundUp glyphosate if he’s next going onto a tillage crop. Roundup kills everything to clear the field of all grass/weeds so new plants can be drilled. It’s routinely used for this purpose by most commercial farmers.
Hopefully your field will be less affected and wont die-off completely OP, having received drift rather than direct spray amount, but it’s best to exercise caution as already stated in all the replies.

The PR on glyphosate when it was released to market was ridiculously dangerous. The claim ‘you can even drink it’ was made, and a stunt showing the CEO or another top bod from the company drinking it, helped convince everyone (certainly farmers) it was indeed safe. Of course for that stunt he could have been drinking anything, that’s marketing for ya, nothing to do with truth based science, certainly not decades ago. There’s more ‘truthful claims laws’ now to do with marketing any product.

But that doesn’t stop farmers even today from repeating “you can even drink it”….the power of marketing at its most dangerous…especially considering this type of product is lab designed to kill ALL types of plant life.

There’s lawsuits ever year against RoundUp owners Monsanto/Bayer. And claimants are regularly winning usually millions, recently billions.
Courts of law look at evidence, not marketing claims for profit.

I’ve read many studies on glyphosate, and there’s a massive divide between the studies paid for by Monsanto and independent studies.
Monsanto studies isolate glyphosate from the herbicide chemical cocktail mixture and study just glyphosate. Those results give a different picture compared to independently-funded studies of the whole herbicide chemical profile commonly called ‘RoundUp’ that laces the global food supply, soils, lakes, rivers, seas and oceans.
The chemical mixture used on farms, particularly makes the product vastly more dangerous to mammalian health, than just glyphosate alone.
Hence why Monsanto cleaim to this day ‘“it’s safe, look at our studies of (*just*) glyphosate”. They’ve even cited independence studies on the chemical formula glyphosate, showing it to be ‘safe’.
But NO field EVER in the entire history of this chemicals use, has received just isolated glyphosate on it to kill plants. So those studies on just glyphosate as an isolated compound are null and void. It requires other chemicals to be added to make glyphosate enter the plant, have longevity, increase stickiness and shelf-life.
It’s THIS chemical mixture which independent studies show it to be highly dangerous to various systems of mammalian health, because THAT is what IS being used on crops and entering our bodies.
The flawed conduct of the studies needs to be borne in mind the next time you see an agro-industry article once again making claims how ‘safe’ their products are.

Other herbicides i’ve heavily researched, they have had endless studies, and a commonly used persistent herbicide that doesn’t biodegrade for years was even advised by governing bodies to effectively never leave the lab as its that environmentally damaging. This particular herbicide nevertheless gained licence from presumably deep pockets, and we’ve sprayed the earth for decades with millions of gallons of this herbicide, that if it was illuminous, we’d see the earth glow from space.

The above herbicide class was banned by the UK for a few years, but then agro-industry lobbyists with those deep pockets again got it back on shelves when there was a prime minister government changeover.


By the way, i’m all for agro-science advancements that aid the productions of healthy crops. I’ll be the first to jump up and down to advertise any chemical weedkiller that works to kill weeds and is shown to be absolutely benign to the health of the planet. That’s the ‘holy grail’ of farming to control plants and have a field full of plants we actually want, using chemicals which do no harm to soils, waterways or living creature’s health.
Sadly i haven’t found such a herbicide during my years of research. But by ignoring the issue doesn’t solve it. Pressure on those in the industry is needed to get them back in the lab and start from scratch with much safer alternatives, and/or to alter commercial farming techniques altogether.
Write to MP’s/Agri Dept ministers to change the laws on the use of herbicides.
It just can’t be ignored. Not with the tragic human health stats since the 1960’s that align with its increasing ubiquitous use, backed-up with results from independent studies.
 
poiuytrewq said:
Round up wont kill grass, Its a broad leaf murderer!
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It will, it just takes longer. They also sometimes use it on hay crops so it dries out quicker.

Roundup pre cutting hay?

Anyone have any thoughts on this? Did it before on Italian ryegrass. The heads were out and the field reseeded itself. Maybe I left the field too long between spraying and cutting (7days I think) and there was very little green in the hay. How long do people normally leave between spraying and...
thefarmingforum.co.uk thefarmingforum.co.uk
 
honetpot said:
It will, it just takes longer. They also sometimes use it on hay crops so it dries out quicker.

Roundup pre cutting hay?

Anyone have any thoughts on this? Did it before on Italian ryegrass. The heads were out and the field reseeded itself. Maybe I left the field too long between spraying and cutting (7days I think) and there was very little green in the hay. How long do people normally leave between spraying and...
thefarmingforum.co.uk thefarmingforum.co.uk
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On hay?! Jesus. I knew some people use it on cereals to desiccate them and that's bad enough.
 
I thought the glyphosate version sprayed on crops was often Kurtail - about which I would be very concerned if I were in the drift-path.

Your farmer sounds just 'great'. I hope you are ok OP, and your grazing won't be too damaged by this.
 
poiuytrewq said:
I feel for you. OH and I regularly have these arguements. His reply is always its safe enough to drink to which I yell "go on then" (to date he has never called my bluff and drank any)

He shouldn't have been doing it in the breeze, Its been difficult recently as its all systems go and things really need getting on with but it has been too windy to spray.
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Sounds like the DDT demonstrations- not sure that ended well for them!
 
honetpot said:
It will, it just takes longer. They also sometimes use it on hay crops so it dries out quicker.

Roundup pre cutting hay?

Anyone have any thoughts on this? Did it before on Italian ryegrass. The heads were out and the field reseeded itself. Maybe I left the field too long between spraying and cutting (7days I think) and there was very little green in the hay. How long do people normally leave between spraying and...
thefarmingforum.co.uk thefarmingforum.co.uk
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That’s appalling! Thankfully I have never heard of that or seen it done. Seen it used on other crops to hasten harvest.
But if you spray the hay off to dry it you are killing all the grass off. Unless you are using the grass as a rotation crop.
Just checked with OH and as round up kills from the roots it wouldn’t do anything in the field any good.
 
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