Mr. Dunham is a neighbor of ours, with his farm adjacent to one of our seed production facilities. As sometimes happens between neighbors, we had an unfortunate issue arise.  

The pilot who performed the crop dusting was spraying our farm plots. After becoming aware of the incident, the pilot self-reported the event to officials at the Iowa Department of Agriculture. The Dept. of Ag is currently conducting an investigation.

We contacted both the farmer and the applicator to understand what happened. We are hopeful that after the Dept. of Ag completes the investigation, we can reach an amicable resolution.

Many farms of different types can and do co-exist - conventional, organic, biotech-all across the country. We will work with Mr. Dunham to make sure both farms can continue to operate in the manner of their choice.  

Mica Veihman
Monsanto Company

Does the company have it's own own personal criteria in the contracts for weather conditions when spraying?  Buffer zones?  Pilot experience?  Monitoring? 

In other words, anything that goes beyond current public law/regulation and individual, unregualted pilot discretion?

Does your company take any specific steps that others would not or are not required to when it comes to crop-dusting (other than possible insurance coverage, of course)?

So the plural would be pinruts.

The article is correct is saying that the plane/sprayer is hired as a contractor, but the article brings a incorrect conclusion as to why. The whole industry (including individual farmers) contracts with individual/small business aerial sprayers. These planes move through the country to where their services are needed depending on the crop/time of year. Financially, it would not make since for Monsanto or any farmer to own their own planes to spray their crop.

APPARENTLY NOT HIGHLY TRAINED ENOUGH.

Seriously, not knowing whose crop you are over-flying and/or not being cognizent enough of your position to know when to shut off the nozzle -- does not speak well for the pilot's training/attentiveness. 

This wasn't a case of wind-drift.  The pilot overflew and/or did not shut off the spray when it should have been. 

It seems like we just can't get away from their touch on our food supply, can we.

Last year about this same time I complained about an aerial applicator spraying fungicide on field corn growing on the edge of a central IL town.  At low elevations, the pilot was making his turns directly over tens of homes in the town.  For what?  Risking the lives of the town's inhabitants for a few more bushels of corn per acre?  This represents nothing but warped values of the farmer and the spray pilot as well as the regulating authorities who allow this practice to happen fairly often with little legal restriction.  Surprisingly, no one in the town registered any complaints.  The people have largely accepted the domineering ways of big ag.  I respect the organic grower in this article for standing his ground. 

This could be construed as a convenient way to put your troublesome neighbor out of business.  Can Monsanto prove they doing everything possible to prevent contamination of their property? What kind of documentation do you provide the pilot on field location, instructions for prevention of contamination, and potential repercussions for "accidental" contamination?

Sorry, but Monsanto is like human foot is to an ant.  The primary responsibility falls on your corporation. Do you have a quality system? Do you have written procedures that are regularly taught to your subcontractors, vendors, employees?

As citizen and voter in this country I am getting very tired of excuses.