A recently filed federal lawsuit accuses Davis Pecans of causing chemical damage to a pecan orchard on land it leases from Mud Creek in Bowie County, Texas.
According to a complaint filed Sept. 19 on behalf of Mud Creek by Daingerfield lawyer Ben King in the Texarkana Division of the Eastern District of Texas, Davis Pecans leased some farmland from Mud Creek in 2016 for the purpose of cultivating soybeans and other crops. Adjacent to the leased land is a pecan orchard on which Mud Creek allegedly spent considerable time and money to create.
Davis Pecans entered into an agreement with Mud Creek in April 2016 to lease the approximately 180 acres of farmable land, to maintain the pecan orchard and oversee the harvesting of pecans from the Mud Creek orchard, according to the complaint.
The suit alleges Davis Pecans hired Garland Agviation, an aerial spraying company also named as a defendant, to treat the farmland with chemicals meant to control weeds. Mud Creek's complaint alleges the chemicals drifted into the pecan orchard and caused damage to the trees.
The complaint names Davis Pecans, Chuck Davis Farms and Garland Agviation as defendants. The complaint alleges the defendants should have known that the aerial application of chemicals such as herbicides is not appropriate given the close proximity of the farmable land to the pecan trees and other vegetation.
"In the spring of 2017, members of Mud Creek first noticed that portions of some pecan trees in their pecan orchard, and even some trees in their entirety, did not bloom properly," the complaint states. "In or around May 2017, Mud Creek members noticed that leaves on many of the pecan trees were prematurely turning brown. In addition, several limbs on affected pecan trees were completely dead and had started to break off."
The damaged trees were along the edge of the land leased to and farmed by Davis Pecans and Davis Farms. To determine the cause of the damage, Mud Creek arranged for a Texas AgriLife extension agent to inspect the waning trees in May 2017. The agent found no evidence that insects were to blame.
"Notably, the Texas AgriLife extension agent observed that the damage to the trees was consistent with chemical damage that may have been caused by an off-target chemical spray drift," the complaint states.
Members of Mud Creek toured the orchard with Chuck Davis in mid-2017 and that Chuck Davis was allegedly surprised to learn that his company had contracted to have the farmland aerially sprayed by Garland Agviation in September 2016. The spraying was allegedly conducted at the request of Chas Davis and included the use of an herbicide (Envy 6), a fungicide (Vigil) and a pesticide (Lambda Cy).
The complaint alleges that Davis Pecans and Garland Agviation were well aware of the dangers inherent in spraying such chemicals so close to the orchard.
"Defendants discussed whether it was appropriate to perform an aerial chemical application considering the proximity between the pecan trees in the orchard and the adjacent leased farmland. Defendants knew and recognized the proximity of the farmland to the adjacent pecan orchard, that the chemical mixture to be applied would be lethal to the pecan orchard, and that an aerial application of the chemical mixture was not appropriate," the complaint states. "Chas Davis of Davis Pecans told aerial applicator Garland Agviation that Mud Creek was not actively harvesting the trees located in the pecan orchard, even though Davis Pecans was responsible for the harvesting of the pecans from the pecan orchard."
The suit alleges the defendants are guilty of negligence and gross negligence and should be held liable for the damage to Mud Creek's pecan orchard. The suit seeks compensation for the loss of approximately 132 damaged trees, the cost to remove and replace them and the loss of harvest revenue.
None of the defendants has yet filed a response to Mud Creek's complaint. The case has been assigned to U.S. District Judge Robert Schroeder III.