Stanley T. Stikeleather, an employee of Nutrien Ag Solutions in Statesville, agreed to pay $800 because drift from a pesticide application he made to a field near Salisbury resulted in adverse effect to orchard grass in a nearby pasture. Stikeleather was also found to have applied the paraquat herbicide without required training.

The case was among those the N.C. Pesticide Board recently approved for settlement under N.C. Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services actions.

In Davidson County, Wesley Young Hopkins Jr., of Hopkins Hill Farm in New Hope, agreed to pay $1,000 for applying a pesticide to a field in the Denton area without the proper license and the required additional training for paraquat application. The application resulted in drift to a residential swimming pool nearby, which violates the law stating pesticides should not be applied under such conditions that drift from pesticide(s) particles or vapors results in adverse effect.