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“Each year gets worse,” he said, noting it’s a problem not seen as much in the Niagara region because fewer cash crops, such as corn and soybeans, are grown there.
As they’re developed, more hormone-resistant seeds for those cash crops have been cycled into use, he said.
A chemical rep tested and found MCPA was affecting the grapes in 2013, he said.
There’s little to be done at this point since cash crops in Lambton are pervasive, he said.
“I would love if they would stop using them because I’m losing my crop badly, but I don’t think that’s going to happen.”
He’s spoken with his immediate farming neighbours and they’ve either stopped using the herbicides or spray at times when there’s no wind, but it doesn’t solve the drift issue, Alton said.
“We’re trying to promote this are as a grape-producing region, much like Niagara,” he said, “but if we start losing 50 per cent of our crops, people will be discouraged from switching over to grapes.”
The hope is to raise awareness so farmers do what they can to mitigate the problem, he said.
“You’ll smell it as you’re driving along and you’ll see a guy spraying it into 20- to 30-kilometre-per-hour winds down the road,” he said. “That is a larger problem, which that’s just not proper spray practice.”
A lot of times there’s nothing that can be done, he said.
“This isn’t a thing against the neighbouring farmers. I’m trying to make that clear,” he said.
There are officially five wineries in Huron and Lambton counties around Lake Huron, he said, and about 20 grape growers.
The Link LonkDecember 30, 2020 at 03:50AM
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Lambton winemaker raising awareness about grape-damaging hormonal herbicides - Sarnia Observer
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