Coming from a family of pilots, I was again struck by the power of aviation when I read that a single aircraft flown by a pilot can spray thousands of acres in a day. Still, some might say, “so what.” Our farmers and ranchers don’t think “so what” when they’re faced with wet soil conditions, remote locations, rolling terrain or dense plant foliage in battling a powerful and rapidly moving pest infestation. For Arizona, it’s also about large tracks of land.
I landed on this topic thanks to Arizona Department of Agriculture’s Jack Peterson, associate director of the Environmental and Plant Services Division. “Aerial application professionals [pilots] are often underappreciated; all they do to prepare, to be licensed, the concerns they face, the technology they use and so much more.”
Serving the agriculture and forestry sectors for 100 years, America’s aerial application industry of piloted aircraft is still the truest means of getting it done big, fast, and right. As hinted earlier, manned aerial application of crop protection products often provides the only practical method available for protecting our food supply if we’re talking large and/or complicated terrain. Large and often remote areas can be treated quickly, far faster than any other form of application, especially when pest infestations are quickly destroying the crops.
Read more at: https://www.azfb.org/
