By Michael Bowman, Kearney, NE
Every day, thousands of people across American eat apples, grill a steak or use a crayon. However, only a small percentage of Americans know that these products wouldn’t be nearly as readily available if the aerial application of America’s crop ceased. The fact is that without aerial application, the things we’re used to in our everyday lives wouldn’t be as available or inexpensive. The apples we eat here in Nebraska are often treated for insects and diseases aerially. Without aerial application they might not be available year round. The corn used to feed cattle is often treated some way by aerial application, and the soybeans used in some crayons are often the same way. Without these products our lives would be much different than they are today.
Aerial application affects crop production in many ways. It provides a safe, fast, efficient and economical way to treat our nations crops. For example, aircraft use provides an alternative to treating crops with ground equipment, which is slow and costly. Using an aerial alternative allows crops to be treated when fields are unable to be entered. Also, aircraft are able to treat crops much faster than any ground equipment. This is very important because using aircraft over ground equipment cuts down on lost time, air pollution and excessive fuel use.
Aerial application has also affected the ability to produce higher yielding corps. Treating crops for insects, weeds and disease allows them to grow without problems and produce more grain. This allows for a smaller amount of land to produce more food than a larger, untreated piece of land. Every day more and more land is needed to satisfy the needs and wants a growing population demands. More food is needed, but less land is available to grow it. Therefore, aerial application is highly needed to maximize the products we get from the amount of suitable land we have to grow enough food to feed the world.
Aerial application provided a major breakthrough in fighting insects, weeds and disease a few years ago but recent technology advances in hybrids that resist core borer and rootworm are depleting the need for aerial application. However, new insects and diseases like soybean aphids and soybean rust need to be treated aerially. Technology will always advance, but there will also always be new problems that only aerial application will be able to manage.
I can’t image what today’s agriculture would be like if aerial application wasn’t an option. It would be very upsetting to see insects, weeds and disease takes over a field and knows that there is nothing anyone can do. Aerial application is very important to today’s agriculture and will continue to be in the future.
Reprint permission given by AgAir Update, P.O. Box 850, Perry, GA 31069 - an international agricultural aviation publication.
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