For 15 years, Davenport Orchards and Winery owner Greg Shipe has been working to reduce the amount of herbicide sprayed in the late spring and early fall. Sensitive crops, like the grapes Shipe grows, can be badly damaged when herbicides sprayed in nearby fields drift over onto other plants.

photo by: Kevin Anderson

Greg Shipe, owner of Davenport Orchards and Winery in Eudora, walks through his vineyard. Each year, a portion of his grapes are damaged due to herbicides that drift onto his land. The herbicide weakens the plant and ultimately requires him to replace the vine. Unless there is better control of herbicides, Shipe said he won't be able to expand his vineyard.

photo by: Kevin Anderson

Greg Shipe, owner of Davenport Orchards and Winery west of Eudora, keeps a keen eye on his variety of grape vines for any sign of damage from herbicides sprayed by other farmers and landowners. Herbicides with the compound 2,4-D, can be detrimental on his crop if sprayed at the wrong time of year.

photo by: Kevin Anderson

Greg Shipe, owner of Davenport Winery in Eudora, holds a brochure that encourages landowners to be good neighbors and make sure the herbicides they spray don't drift onto nearby crop fields.

photo by: Kevin Anderson

Greg Shipe, owner of Davenport Winery in Eudora, is hoping to educate more people about the negative effects of spraying noxious weeds with herbicides at the wrong time of year. The herbicide vapors can travel for miles, damaging sensitive crops, such as grapes in nearby fields.

photo by: Kevin Anderson

Pruned grape vines of the fredonia variety are ready for another growing season at the Davenport Winery in Eudora. Winery owner Greg Shipe tries to keep a keen eye on his variety of grape vines for any sign of damage from herbicides other farmers and the county uses to control noxious weeds. Herbicides with the compound 2,4-D, can be detrimental on his crop if used improperly.

photo by: Richard Gwin

In this 2004 photo, Greg Shipe, of rural Eudora, shows some of the damage, a bubbling effect on the grape vine leaf at the palm of his hand, from 2,4-D herbicide.