Potato farm business Country Crest in north Co. Dublin has been ordered to pay over €88,000 to a neighbouring fruit and vegetable business after spray drift from a herbicide damaged part of an apple orchard.
John Donnelly and Sons, the plaintiff in the case – which was heard in the High Court between October and December last year – is a fruit and vegetable farm at Oldcastle. In September 2011, Country Crest, the defendant in the case, leased a field from the plaintiff, in which Country Crest grew potatoes.
Also in September of that year, an employee of the defendant sprayed the field with a herbicide.
It was the plaintiff’s case that, due to spray drift from the herbicide, which was allegedly applied during windy conditions, a large number of apples in the plaintiff’s orchard were damaged.
The plaintiff had claimed that those apples could not be sold directly to shops for retail, but had to be sold for processing and cider. The plaintiff alleged that, by being unable to sell the apples directly to shops, he had seen a loss of profits of €88,243.54.
According to the plaintiff’s case, an employee noted spotting or speckling on many apples in the orchard after the spaying took place. This speckling was more prevalent on apples near the field where the spraying took place, and on the sides of the apples facing the field. Apples covered by leaves did not exhibit this condition.
In response, Country Crest had contended that the damage to the orchard was spread evenly throughout, while spray drift typically leaves uneven damage.
The defendant asserted that the damage to the plaintiff’s apples was as a result of the plaintiff’s over-application of calcium chloride.
During the case, the court heard from an expert witness who stated that the damage to the apples – which were photographed – was consistent with contact with a herbicide; while application of calcium chloride, even at high concentrations, was not known to cause damage to apples, even if leaves on apple trees can be damaged.
The expert said that, in his experience and career, he had never seen damage caused to apples by over-application of calcium chloride.
The witness also said that, in his opinion, the record-keeping by the defendant in terms of spraying was deficient.
The label of the herbicide said that it should not be sprayed in windy conditions, and the expert witness said that it should not be sprayed where wind speed is greater than 20kph. According to the witness, it was not safe to spray the herbicide during the weather conditions that were recorded at nearby Dublin Airport on the day in question.
Taking all this, and other testimony, into account, Mr. Justice Barr said he was satisfied that the conduct of the defendant gave rise to a liability, for which the plaintiff was entitled to damages.
The judge awarded John Donnelly and Sons €88,243.54.