By Dane Mosel, Neligh, NE
Aerial application affects crop production and yields in many ways. It allows farmers to apply herbicides and insecticides to their crops without damaging the plant or disturbing the soil. Planes can spray fields of fragile crops such as rice or fruit orchards and pastures or fields inaccessible to ground applicators. When wet weather keeps ground applicators in the shed, airplanes can be spraying and not leave tracks in the fields which helps the farmer because he/she does not need to till the field to get rid of ruts and tracks later on. Another advantage is that planes are not affected by obstacles such as trees, livestock pens or pivot irrigation systems that ground rigs cannot go through or under. This creates less worry for the farmer because there are not irrigations to move or time does not have to be wasted making sure the correct gates are open when the sprayer shows up.
Technology has helped the spraying industry immensely with the introduction of GPS and highly accurate spray nozzles over men on the ground with flags and simple Tee-Jets. The largest ground applicators have a carry capacity of 2,400 gallons, whereas the typical crop-duster carries from 100 to 800 gallons. This large difference is due to the fact that the average ground rig has to used almost ten times the application rate to achieve what aerial application can. Planes are able to use their down draft to force the chemicals deep into the crop for better accuracy and coverage using only 2-3 gallons an acres so they are more effective with less carrying capacity. In addition, planes can fly in any direction. This allows planes to use the wind to aid in accurate applications when the ground applicator has to stay in the direction of the crop rows.
One of the biggest fears for farmers this year is Asian rust. Studies in South America show that airplanes are better at killing the fungus than ground applicators because, unlike the ground rigs. Airplanes never come in contact with the plants. Contacting the plants releases the fungus spores into the air where they can travel and infect or re-infect clean fields. In addition, Asian rust can infect and greatly damage a plant in a matter of days if the conditions are right. This means the fields need to be sprayed quickly. Aerial application of pesticides is much faster than ground application meaning more fields can be sprayed in one day. An average field of 160 acres can be covered in 40 minutes. Also, planes can travel to and from the field at speeds of up to 180 mph, compared to the 35-40 mph that a ground applicator can travel. When a farmer notifies a pilot that a field needs to be sprayed, the pilot can have the field covered usually in the same day. This, in most cases, promotes yields because the amount of time the pest is present is small compared to the days that it can take to free up a ground rig to be able to spray the field.
It is evident that crop production and yields are affected positively by aerial application because planes are definitely flexible, fast and efficient. They are able to apply both herbicides and pesticides to help increase yields. There are times that a partial or entire crop would be lost if aerial application was not available. And, of course, the farmer/rancher must always look at the bottom line. Increased production and yields can only mean increase profit. Aerial application is a bonus because it leads to less time commitment and worry on the part of the producer.
Reprint permission given by AgAir Update, P.O. Box 850, Perry, GA 31069 - an international agricultural aviation publication.
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