(OregonLive) - A prominent Oregon winemaker claims that herbicide drifted over from a grass-seed farmer's field and destroyed a high-end grape crop.

Willamette Valley Vineyards lost 12.7 tons of pinot noir grapes, according to the company's lawsuit filed on Tuesday in Polk County Circuit Court. The suit lists Five Cent Farm as a defendant.

The grapes could have produced 826 cases of wine. The loss adds up to $413,780, the suit says.

Willamette Valley Vineyards contracted with Elton Vineyard about 10 miles northwest of Salem at 22500 Ingram Lane NW and just east of fields leased by Five Cent Farm.

Representatives from Willamette Valley Vineyards began to notice signs of a herbicide drift on May 10, 2013, the suit says. The Oregon Department of Agriculture investigated.

"The Department of Agriculture ultimately concluded that a herbicide drift had occurred, which was caused by the actions of Jeffrey Nichols, on behalf of Myron Nichols and Five Cent Farm, in March 2013," the suit states.

But Five Cent Farm's Jeff Nichols told The Oregonian/OregonLive on Thursday that the Agriculture Department couldn't prove where the herbicide came from.

Nichols doesn't believe it was his farm's fault. "We didn't even get a fine or anything out of the Department of Ag," Nichols said.

Nichols wonders if the grape plants were damaged by weed killers sprayed by nearby homeowners.

Herbicide wafting into vineyards is a growing problem in Oregon as more commercial winemakers grow grapes next to fields treated with herbicides that benefit other crops but seriously damage grapes, according to a 2014 article by the Oregon State University Extension Service.

Those other crops include small grains, hay, grass seed and corn.

"Grapes are especially sensitive to several herbicides commonly used by (those crops)," the article says.

On top of the $413,780 direct loss, Willamette Valley Vineyards seeks double or triple that amount under provisions of Oregon law enacted to protect agriculture.