A South Dakota jury has awarded $160,000 to a man who alleges that the herbicide used by a co-op killed ponderosa trees on his property.

The jury awarded the money in the lawsuit that Hartford resident Richard Krier filed against Hartford Farmer's Elevator.

Krier sued the co-op after over 200 ponderosas along the edge of his acreage died within a year of June 2010, when he caught sprayers with the co-op pelting fields of crops with a weed killer. Trees beyond Krier's property line survived.

Expert witnesses during the trial presented differing reasons for the trees' destruction. The co-op argued the trees died because of soil saturation.

Hartford Elevator's attorney Lisa Prostrollo says the co-op is considering whether to appeal the jury's decision.

The Associated Press contributed to this story

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