Herbicide Injury - What Should I Do Now?

Your crops are growing well, but your scout reports odd-looking plants in one area of the field. On closer inspection, you agree that the plants are not looking well, and you suspect that herbicide drift is the cause. What are your first steps?

Diagnose the problem:

• Consider all possible causes of the damage. Disease, insect, nutrient deficiency, herbicide carryover, and environmental stresses may also cause symptoms that look similar to herbicide drift.
  
• Look at the pattern of symptoms in the field. Herbicide drift damage is usually worse next to the source of the spray, and lessens as you go further across the field.
  
• Patches may be an indication of changes in soil and/or changes in soil pH. Areas of low or high pH should be tested for herbicide carryover.
  
• Look for weeds with symptoms, both in your crop and in the fence lines.
  
• Look for evidence of spray application in the neighbouring fields, lawns, ditches, etc. Wheel marks, boom patterns, overlap on headlands are tell-tale signs of a sprayer having been there.

Contact the appropriate people:

• Talk to your neighbour or the sprayer operator to find out what was sprayed, when it was applied, (and who did the application).
  
• Contact your regional Ministry of the Environment office - MOE officers can do a site visit, take samples of tissue and soil, and have them analyzed for the suspect herbicides. Where appropriate, the offending applicator may face charges under the Pesticide Act.
  
• Contact your insurance adjustor, and advise the applicator to contact theirs.

Document all details of the problem:

• Spray records for your fields (to prove it wasn't your sprays) and for the offending applicator will be needed.
  
• Weather records for the date of application will be needed, showing temperatures, wind speed, wind direction, and rainfall.
  
• Take lots of photos and record date and location on each photo. Repeat photos several times through the season.
  
• To document yield loss, you need to find a similar planting - same age, cultivar, rootstock, etc. At harvest time, you will need to document yields and quality from the damaged area, and from an
  undamaged area.
  
• For perennial crops like vineyards, orchards, asparagus, berries, etc., it will be necessary to document the effects for several years after the damage occurred.

2,4-D injury in grapes

5% Roundup drift on tomato leaves

Roundup drift on tomato field

Roundup 2 injury on branch

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