Controlling drift of crop protection materials (1999)

The movement of crop protection materials away from their intended target poses several possible problems. Besides the economic damage to nearby susceptible crops, possible problems include less effective weed control, airborne contamination of streams and lakes, and the social and financial costs resulting from the accidental damage that drift can cause to a neighbor's ornamental or commercial plants. Minimizing drift is a moral responsibility to neighbors and it is in one's own ethical and financial interests to protect neighbors from the potential for damage to their crops, landscape plants, gardens, lawns, and other vegetation. Drift damage to neighboring vegetation can be a serious problem depending on how that vegetation is valued and whether the damage is permanent or temporary. Crop protection materials are also poorly understood by the public, which causes anxiety and sometimes overreaction to a problem. Drift can lead to litigation, financially damaging court costs and appeals to restrict or ban the use of crop protection materials.New 10/99/3M