Local fella mis-using ag spray

[oldred]

I think a lot of folks here grow their own fruits and vegetables, I grow and sell fruit myself, and I thought it might be of interest what some people will do. A guy not too far from here must have had problems growing apples because blights are a serious problem here (mostly Cedar rust and black rot) so he apparently attempted to solve the problem by using a stronger pesticide mix. According to what was said he used a commonly sold home use orchard spray but mixed it at least TEN times the plainly stated mixing rate, Some said it was more like twenty times the rate! He then proceeded to climb up into the tree with only a terry cloth "mask" over his nose and mouth and started spraying, by the time he finished he was soaked with spray (as one might imagine in such a scenario). He was complaining of his skin burning and feeling dizzy so his family took him to the ER where he died a short time later from swelling in his throat.


This is NOT a warning about dangers of this spray, it is safe when used as intended and has been sold for many years. I am not certain as to the exact brand but was told it a common consumer rated home orchard spray that was bought at either the local farmers Co-Op or Tractor Supply, they both sell the same brand. My point is NOT that the spray is dangerous but rather it's about what some people will do! In this case the guy was definitely a good candidate for the Darwin award and was the ultimate cause of his own demise. These pesticides are safe when used correctly, just use common sense.

[Wag]

Holy smoke. That's just downright scary. People need to follow the directions.

That applies to all aspects of our existence. Wear seat belts in the car. Helmets on the motorcycles. Don't mix powders on the reloading bench. Don't point guns at things you don't really want to shoot at.

Etc. etc. We can learn things the hard way or learn from the mistakes of others. Or die not learning at all.

--Wag--

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

that sure is a tale of woe, we must respect chemicals.

I could see how some of the less educated could go with the mantra of "More must be better", in regards to Fruit Tree spray.

I've been a amateur Apple/Pear/Cherry (and other fruit) grower for 26 years. I started out using the standard spray, which is typically a combination of three chemicals, It worked for a few years, then not so much.

Then I advanced to buying the individual chemicals and mixed them to my own combination, to suit what I thought were my needs. That worked well, again for a few years, then I reached a point where that just stopped working, so I quit the chemicals and started using organic codling moth traps, those moths were my main problem. The Traps seemed to work for a couple years and then problem came back.

I now use a "extreme pruning" technique and no chemicals and no traps. It's been about 10 years, and had some success. While, I still have some problems, but I get enough problem-free fruit, and enjoy saving money on the expense of spraying and buying traps...and the likely health benefits of not spraying.

The Squirrels are my main problem with my Pears...they like pears when they are about half the size of a fully ripe pear...they will empty a tree in a weekend, when they are that size. I'm still working on a "extreme pruning" technique for the squirrels ...but my trees are in plain sight of a neighbor and animal lover (who feeds the birds and squirrels) who lives across the street

[calm seas]

JonB, what are the laws there regarding crop predation by wildlife? Neighbor doesn't want squirrels shot, they need to feed them better, keep them away from the pears.

[oldred]

they like pears when they are about half the size of a fully ripe pear...they will empty a tree in a weekend, when they are that size. I'm still working on a "extreme pruning" technique for the squirrels ...:

Wow can they ever!!! I have several Pear trees with some just for pollinators for my Moonglow pears, fireblight devastates the others but they do bloom ok and allow the Moonglows to produce abundant fruit (Moonglow pear seems to be all but immune to fireblight and other diseases). But about those squirrels, I have 17 cats here on the farm (yep that's 17!) and I have often referred to them as "working" cats because of vermin control. Those tree rats were a real problem a bunch of years ago when I started, and not just pears, but now about all I ever see of them anywhere close is just a few pieces&parts that the cats leave behind.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

I live in town (no shooting, not even a pellet gun), my "yard" is neither a farm or field.
Legally, I am limited to live traps and that turned out to be unsuccessful.
The neighbor issue is more of a respect thing, My pears aren't worth having an angry neighbor.

[nun2kute]

A farmer can shoot any animal attacking their livestock, why not agricultural products ? Pigs are a blight to most crops. Feed the squirrels some lead pesticide and bill the neighbor for feeding them.

[rancher1913]

most states require a license to buy chemicals, and for a good reason. the farm stores are somehow skirting this regulation and most anybody can walk into a farm store and buy some serious poisons, its usually a weaker formulation of the commercial stuff but if you dont know what your doing it can do a lot of harm. I use Assonna for pests instead of malitiion, it is more of a repellent, dont find any dead bugs, they are just gone. discovered this stuff when a neighbor had a bad grasshopper problem, he used it and then I had a grasshopper problem because all his hoppers found my crops more tasty.

[RED BEAR]

There is nothing you can do to protect idiots from there self!

[farmerjim]

I have a license to buy and use all the deadly stuff. I am very careful with them. I still remember one of my professors stories of the two times he had to go to the emergency room for pesticide poisoning.

Several cats would take care of your tree rat problem.

[oldred]

most states require a license to buy chemicals, and for a good reason. the farm stores are somehow skirting this regulation and most anybody can walk into a farm store and buy some serious poisons, its usually a weaker formulation of the commercial stuff but if you dont know what your doing it can do a lot of harm. I use Assonna for pests instead of malitiion, it is more of a repellent, dont find any dead bugs, they are just gone. discovered this stuff when a neighbor had a bad grasshopper problem, he used it and then I had a grasshopper problem because all his hoppers found my crops more tasty.

The common home orchard sprays, such as I am sure he was using, are sold about everywhere, Lowes, Home Depot, Ace and most hardware stores and even at Wallyworld in some places and they are relatively benign to the point of being barely useful. The "pro stuff" can't be had legally without a permit and for good reason and although I can get it I simply don't want the stuff, if I want poison apples I can get all I want at the local Supermarket! These common sprays almost all contain the same three ingredients, Captan, Carbaryl (Sevin dust/liquid) and a tad bit of Malathion. None of these chemicals are overly toxic in the concentrations used but of course like anything else they have to be respected and used correctly. We are around much more dangerous chemicals all the time and don't worry about it but I doubt any of us would want to be soaked in any of them either!

[buckwheatpaul]

I think a lot of folks here grow their own fruits and vegetables, I grow and sell fruit myself, and I thought it might be of interest what some people will do. A guy not too far from here must have had problems growing apples because blights are a serious problem here (mostly Cedar rust and black rot) so he apparently attempted to solve the problem by using a stronger pesticide mix. According to what was said he used a commonly sold home use orchard spray but mixed it at least TEN times the plainly stated mixing rate, Some said it was more like twenty times the rate! He then proceeded to climb up into the tree with only a terry cloth "mask" over his nose and mouth and started spraying, by the time he finished he was soaked with spray (as one might imagine in such a scenario). He was complaining of his skin burning and feeling dizzy so his family took him to the ER where he died a short time later from swelling in his throat.


This is NOT a warning about dangers of this spray, it is safe when used as intended and has been sold for many years. I am not certain as to the exact brand but was told it a common consumer rated home orchard spray that was bought at either the local farmers Co-Op or Tractor Supply, they both sell the same brand. My point is NOT that the spray is dangerous but rather it's about what some people will do! In this case the guy was definitely a good candidate for the Darwin award and was the ultimate cause of his own demise. These pesticides are safe when used correctly, just use common sense.

I have had an Applicators License for years that allows me to spray my ranch .... but you have to follow the label on the product. If you have drift, spray during high winds, or misread or misuse your product you can be liable. Misuse can cause serious injury or death not only to yourself or others and once again you can be held responsible.....The label is the bible as far as use of the product.....read it and follow it and all will benefit from it!

[lightman]

Ag chemicals can be dangerous. Most of them are highly concentrated. Around here, the State Plant Board is charged with enforcing the laws, or rules, and investigating complaints. All of the flying services around here have weather stations and keep a log book on weather conditions. Every time a plane takes off perterment weather info is logged.

Working at these services are some of the better paying jobs for high school and college kids. I discouraged my boys from doing this because of the danger.

[MaryB]

To keep squirrels from climbing put a metal ring around the tree with a "hat" at the top so they can't jump over it. Make sure it can expand as needed.

Neighbor planted apple trees last year, didn't bother with any winter bark protection and the rabbits ate all the bark off of them... all the way to the tops because they were buried in a 10' drift...

[oldred]

Between Rabbits and weedeaters I don't know which kills more newly planted trees, I suppose we can overlook a newbie to fruit trees not knowing to protect them from rabbits but I simply can't understand the idiots that will spend a ton of money on a bunch of fruit (or even ornamental) trees and then kill them by barking them with a stinkin weedeater! A weedeater can mortally wound a tree in seconds yet people will use them whacking weeds/grass right up to the bark on a tree and just wear out that tree trunk as if it were just a fence post, once that bark is broken the tree will of course die in short order or maybe later on if the bark is not damaged all the way around but die it eventually will!

[jaysouth]

Ag chemicals can be dangerous. Most of them are highly concentrated. Around here, the State Plant Board is charged with enforcing the laws, or rules, and investigating complaints. All of the flying services around here have weather stations and keep a log book on weather conditions. Every time a plane takes off perterment weather info is logged.

Working at these services are some of the better paying jobs for high school and college kids. I discouraged my boys from doing this because of the danger.

when a teenager over in Stuttgart, AR, I used to work summers flagging crop dusters. You spend most of your day in a haze of whatever the crop duster is applying. That and a tour in VN gave me lung and prostate cancer later in life. The only thing I spray in my yard is a home made herbicide of vinegar, salt and Dawn.

[lightman]

when a teenager over in Stuttgart, AR, I used to work summers flagging crop dusters. You spend most of your day in a haze of whatever the crop duster is applying. That and a tour in VN gave me lung and prostate cancer later in life. The only thing I spray in my yard is a home made herbicide of vinegar, salt and Dawn.

I'm really sorry to hear that! But yeah, before GPS that was the way they worked. One of my older neighbors talks about spraying cotton with an open cab tractor and being sick for several days afterwards.

Oh yeah, it always sounds kind of lame, but Thank You for Your Service!

[David2011]

I use Assonna for pests instead of malitiion, it is more of a repellent, dont find any dead bugs, they are just gone. discovered this stuff when a neighbor had a bad grasshopper problem, he used it and then I had a grasshopper problem because all his hoppers found my crops more tasty.

Rancher, is there another name for Assonna? It sounds interesting but I can't find any reference to a product by that name.

[rancher1913]

see if this works, helps if i could spell it right.

https://www3.epa.gov/pesticides/chem...5-20011009.pdf

[Silvercreek Farmer]

Saw a list of fines for improperly applied pesticides and my state ag paper the other day. My fruit trees suffer terribly, but I refuse to spray them, time and energy as much as anything. I planted trees said to be resistant to all sorts of things, but I've seen very limited results. Eventually I'll cull the worst of them and plant more of the successful ones. Still a bit early.