When we see these machines in the fields, we grab the animals, close all the doors and windows, and hold our collective breaths.
In the case above it was spraying the Sunflowers. I have no idea what chemicals are being used, but it's probably best not to breathe it in!
Hidden off to the left are about a dozen Beehives that were brought in firstly for the Chestnuts, and secondly for the Sunflowers. It does seem strange to spray with insecticides just when they're about to do their job.
Bring 'em in; kill 'em off.
It does seem odd and one would suppose they are not spraying herbicides.
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't have thought so, it's almost weed free.
DeleteSprays here are pretty innocuous. Bloody useless for the most part. can't imagine it will be anything but herbicide. Prior to combining they may kill the sunflowers as well as it helps the machine to process the stalks.
ReplyDeleteLater on they spray with an offshoot of 'Agent Orange' to kill off the plants. I believe it makes the seeds easier to harvest.
DeleteIf it IS a herbicide, it's totally unnecessary; it was sprayed several weeks ago, and is totally weed free.
I worry for the bees!
ReplyDeleteGreetings Maria x
We had a storm with a very heavy downpour yesterday evening, so whatever it was, it's now been washed off.
DeleteI suppose they know what they are doing. Your precautions are wise. As children we used to run through the mist of DDT when it was being sprayed.
ReplyDeleteI've seen children here running along behind a sprayer; amazingly they're still alive.
DeleteWe could play a game "guess why they are spraying" all day. It costs a lot of money to spray so it will not be a decision taken lightly or for something totally unnecessary.
ReplyDeleteI've just been past the field. The flowers are just starting, and the ground is spotless. I worry mostly about the 'Agent Orange' that they spray later; very nasty stuff. They all laugh about its origins.
DeleteBayer have bought out Monsanto. But don't worry if you get ill as Bayer also make drugs to cure you.
ReplyDeleteThe perfect alliance.
DeleteWhen I lived in New Zealand and was surrounded by orchards I was very fortunate that the orchardist sprayed when there was no wind - usually. However I remember blogging about it when the area was covered in spray mist (and he rarely wore any face protection).
ReplyDeleteIt was quite windy (in our direction) when I photographed the above. We stayed indoors for a good hour.
DeleteI used to drive from Canterbury to London on the motorway, past the hop fields when they were being sprayed. If you had the windows, open your eyes stung so much that you could hardly see.
ReplyDeleteI remember stopping, amongst loads of other cars, to watch a plane crop-spraying. Each time he turned we received a good shower of spray, but we continued watching. It was too good a show to leave!
DeleteI am outraged when the cabin crew of airlines walk down the aisle spraying insecticide on the heads of passengers. I shout at them to stop but they never do. I hope they've banned that now.
DeleteIt only happened once to me - leaving from Johannesburg airport, the aisle was sprayed. The excuse was that someone had probably carried in a malaria mosquito that was on them...?!
Deletex
What a bloody cheek; you should have sued!
DeleteI would be indoors too. I wonder why, if the fields are weed free already.
ReplyDeleteI'm presuming it was insecticide; it may have been something else.
DeleteI see this all too often here. Much of the farmland around me is leased out to companies who only grow cash crops, corn and soybeans. It makes me upset every time I see them spraying, especially at the farmland on the other side of my woods where a stream flows through.
ReplyDeleteAs long as they make their money, they couldn't care less. Once when I spoke to a neighbour about all the chemicals he used, I showed him my unpolluted veg's, and compared them to his. Guess who's were the best!
DeleteWhen my mum had a cottage right by a farm, she always thought that there was a lack of bird life, considering they were in a little village surrounded by fields and she thought it was all the spraying.
ReplyDeleteI am obliged to use Slug Pellets at Haddock's; if I didn't I'd have nothing. But I always use 'Wildlife Friendly' stuff which I hope works. I remember when I first came to live in France, I bought some very expensive Bio treatment for Colorado Beetles on my spuds; it did nothing at all.
DeleteHopefully he will have done his homework and will be using something which won't kill 'em off Cro. We can but hope.
ReplyDeleteYou have more faith than I do.
DeleteIt's a very old fashioned way of spraying crops. All the large producers in the UK are using drones to pinpoint the problem areas. The drones can detect individual weeds. Saves the farmers a fortune, as Rachel says, spraying is not cheap.
ReplyDeleteThey spray for mould, insects and weeds.
ReplyDeleteMould on a sunflower crop? Shove on the fungicide.
I'll have to ask my neighbour what it was. I know the next time they come it will be the dreaded 'Agent Orange'.
DeleteWe stay chemical free here also. I want to see the lizards, frogs, and box turtles safe. When the Chem Lawn people come round the area, I always do the hex sign and stay inside. They don't spray around our house... but some of the neighbors use them.
ReplyDeleteI am surprised at the mild reaction to the spraying. It is absolutely not right to spray insecticide, herbicide or any other CIDE on anything. Monsanto is in court right now fighting a case in which a gardener has cancer because of ROUNDUP. And agent orange? You should be complaining to the local authorities. Wake up people! Do you want to have food in the near future? You won't have it if you keep killing bees!!
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