I hear these stories all the time. I am certain they do not happen as often as the press would like you to believe. If I spray a crop, and even my next door neighbor feels the effect, let alone some guy down the road, I am doing something very wrong, especially from an economical stand point. I want that product on my crop, no where else. It does me no good on your property. If it ends up somewhere else I am applying too much, applying under the wrong conditions, and worst of all, I am wasting tons of time and money.
Are you a farmer?
My farmer father-in-law used to say the same thing when news agencies would blame farmers for the influx of fertilizer in lakes, rivers etc. Said it’s the guy who is buying a $10 bag of fertilizer for his lawn and figures if one bag is good, two must be better.
Lots of farmers have equipment that puts down the appropriate amount based on satellite input. They drive the tractor and the computer determines where and how much fertilizer to put down.
You are exactly right.
I work for Monsanto’s main competitor. Not only are most commercial-grade pesticides strictly regulated (see a FIFRA label for nighttime reading), but many are very expensive.