Animal Air Distress & Vineyard Lawsuit

Animal Air Distress & Vineyard Lawsuit

Animal Air Distress & Vineyard Lawsuit. I'm Greg Martin with today's Northwest Report.

An Oregon vineyard has file a lawsuit claiming damage to their vines. The suit was filed by Willamette Valley Vineyard against Five Cent Farm, Inc. and it claims that drifting herbicide spray has damaged some 12.7 tons of high-end commercial pinot noir wine grapes at a value of over $413-thousand dollars. The claim includes double or triple that amount, according to provisions of Oregon law protecting agriculture, plus legal fees.

People aren't the only ones being affected by the wildfires. Plenty of animals have been displaced including horses, cattle and even pets. The smoke from the fires has blanketed a broad area of the northwest as evidenced in pictures taken from the International Space Station recently. According to Charlie Powell, Public Information Officer with Washington State Universities College of Veterinary Medicine air quality warnings extend to all animals as well.

POWELL: If you can bring them into a garage or an outbuilding or a shed or something like that you're going to reduce the amount of particulates that they are exposed to. It's like any other situational awareness with regard to climate whether it's freezing weather or drought or smoke or those things, our responsibility to animals extends to whatever we can do.

That's today's Northwest Report. I'm Greg Martin on the Ag Information Network of the West.

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