Things You Should Know When Living Next to an Orchard or Vineyard

Orchards

Orchards are private property on which the orchardist is dependent for making his living. If you have backyard fruit trees, you can do your neighbor a big favor by controlling insects and disease. Access to your neighbor’s property is restricted, especially when activities there might be dangerous to your or your pets’ health.

Winter (November through February): Pruning time. There will be workers throughout the orchard. In early February you will hear the high pitched whine of orchard sprayers as they cover the dormant trees with oil and sulfur to control insects and diseases. Expect to see signs warning about the chemicals being used and entry restrictions. There also may be loud helicopter like sounds of the wind machines as they are tested before frost control season.

Spring (March through June): Frost control, bloom time, and insect and disease control season. From dusk until past dawn you will hear the wind machines and possibly feel the blast of air as they turn in circles moving the cold air from the orchard. You may hear the drone of irrigation motors pumping water for added frost protection. In late March to early April you will again hear the whine of the orchard sprayers just before, during, and after bloom, protecting the fruit from insects and disease.

Summer (July & August): Irrigation, growing and harvest time. The orchard sprayers will be doing the last sprays for worms and other damaging insects. Harvest of the early pear varieties begins in August. Trucks hauling fruit will be in the orchard, and forklifts will be gathering fruit bins and loading trucks. Trucks will leave dust trails and clouds as they enter and leave the orchards.

Fall (September & October): Harvest time (continues into early October) After harvest you will again hear the orchard sprayers applying foliar nutrients (fertilizer chemicals) to the leaves and again applying oil and sulfur to control over wintering insects. Other fertilizers are applied to the ground.

Vineyards

Within Southern Oregon, as of 2004, there were over 100 vineyards totaling approximately 1800 acres with product worth roughly $5,000,000 annually. There are several things that one should know about living next to a vineyard.

First, like other farming operations, vineyards generate noise from field equipment such as tractors, sprayers, wind machines in the Spring, and bird control devices (cannons and bird distress calls) near harvest. Homeowners living next to a vineyard should recognize that these are normal operations and are protected by the state Right to Farm Bill.

Secondly, vineyards do spray pesticides. The most common pesticide used in our vineyards is sulfur for control of Powdery Mildew. It may be applied numerous times during the spring and summer and is only a problem if one has an allergy to it. However, it does omit an odor that many individuals consider offensive.

Lastly and most important, if you live next to a vineyard you should know that phenoxytype herbicides (such as Crossbow) that homeowners may use for poison oak, wild blackberry, and thistle control can be devastating to vineyards. Any phenoxy-type herbicide, even used in small quantities, may volatilize during high temperatures and be carried on the wind for miles. If the herbicide application can be traced, the applicator can be fined by the Oregon Department of Agriculture for spray drift and required to pay for all damage and losses incurred by the vineyard.

For more information on vineyard operations in Southern Oregon contact the Jackson County OSU Southern Oregon Research and Extension Center at (541) 776-7371.