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Far-fetched as it was in 1921, when farmers applied\ninsecticides by hand and aviation was still in its infancy, the idea worked. In\nan experimental flight conceived by the Ohio Department of Agriculture, U.S.\nArmy test pilot, Lt. John Macready, applied lead arsonate dust from a World War\nI surplus biplane over a Troy, Ohio Catalpa grove. The insect pests were\nsuccessfully dispatched; the trees grown for use as telegraph poles and\nfenceposts were saved; and a practice now vital to crop production,\nwildfire-fighting and mosquito control was born.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
State aviation officials from across the country have long\nunderstood the value and contributions of the industry. “Aerial\napplicators are crucial to boosting yields in Iowa\u2019s multi-billion-dollar\nagricultural crop industry, and their positive impact to Iowa\u2019s economy is\nproven,” said Tim McClung, Aviation Planning and Outreach Manager with the\nIowa DOT – Modal Bureau. “Over the years, aerial applicators have been\nadopters of new aviation and applicator technologies that continue to make them\nrelevant to Iowa\u2019s farmers, and significant users of Iowa\u2019s air transportation\nsystem.” <\/p>\n\n\n\n
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<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\nDan Harmon, Aviation Division (AVN) Director at the Texas\nDepartment of Transportation, said the importance of aviation to agriculture\ncannot be overstated. “There is simply no more efficient method of\ncoverage than aerial application – Period.” <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Andrew Moore, CEO of the National Agricultural Aviation\nAssociation (NAAA) notes that the last century brought almost unimaginable\ninnovation and technological advancement in agricultural production as a whole.\n\u201cAnd no segment of agriculture illustrates that warp-speed progress more than\nhow far we\u2019ve come in aerial application.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While it was a watershed event in agricultural and aviation\nhistory, the first recorded aerial application flight was just the precursor of\nwhat was to come. Macready\u2019s lightweight, underpowered aircraft has evolved to\nthe 1200 horsepower, turbine engine planes and high-performance helicopters\nthat today treat more than 125 million acres (including fields treated more\nthan once) of U.S. cropland each year. And the hand-cranked application device\nused in the 1921 flight has given way to the high-tech spray equipment, GPS\nsystems, avionics and onboard data analytics capabilities that make possible\nthe precision crop protection required on the farm today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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\u201cFarming in the 21st century is a complex balance of\nmaximizing yields while protecting the environment and preserving overall\nsustainability,\u201d Moore says. \u201cAerial applicators\u2019 efficiency and ability to\napply fertilizer or attack pests at just the right time play a key role in\nhelping farmers meet those demands.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He adds, \u201cAlong with its essential place in agriculture,\naerial application has become an important tool in forest management and\nwildfire fighting, as well as in public health for mosquito control. And it\u2019s a\nsafe bet that what began as an experiment in 1921 will continue to offer\nsolutions to other challenges the world will face in the coming decades, like\nclimate change and the increasing demand for food.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Greg Pecoraro, President and CEO of the National Association\nof State Aviation Officials (NASAO) said that his organization is pleased to\nsalute the centennial of Agricultural Aviation. \u201cThe safe and abundant food\nsupply we enjoy today would not be possible without the use of aerial\napplication of crop protection products, noted Pecoraro. \u201cAgricultural aviation\nnot only protects food and forestry products, but also plays a critical role in\npublic health through combating airborne insects that spread disease such as\nWest Nile Virus, encephalitis, and malaria. Agricultural aviation has had a\ntremendous impact on our world and is another key indicator of the tremendous\nbenefits aviation has brought us in just over 100 years of existence.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Kyle Wanner, Executive Director North Dakota Aeronautics\nCommission added that, \u201cover the last 100 years, Aerial Application has\ntransformed into an efficient and vital industry that provides support to our\nfarmers during the times of the growing season that they need it most.\u201d Approximately 100 aerial applicator companies\nprovide services to over 4 million acres of farmland each year in North Dakota\nand they help to ensure that farmers reach higher profitability levels while\nhelping the overall food supply to be grown at a higher productivity\nlevel. \u201cOverall, this industry has\nhelped our state and nation grow to become one of the most efficient\nagricultural producing areas in the world,\u201d said Wanner. <\/p>\n\n\n\n In Nebraska agriculture is the largest industry and is the\nfourth largest crop production state in the U.S. \u201cAviation and agriculture grew\nup together in Nebraska,\u201d said Ann Crook, Director of Aeronautics for the\nNebraska Department of Transportation. \u201cOne reason I love being the director is\nbecause every citizen understands the importance of the ag industry and how\nreliant this industry is on aviation. \nIt\u2019s extremely refreshing to be serving a population that innately\nunderstands the value of maintaining our system of airports rather than having\nto constantly justify their existence!\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The summer of 2021 marks an important milestone in the extraordinary history of technological advancement in American agriculture. One hundred years ago on August 3, researchers, desperate for a way to prevent sphinx moth caterpillars from ravaging the valuable Catalpa tree crop, came up with a novel approach. What if the caterpillars could be controlled […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":19022,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[116,115],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19017","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-front-page-slider","category-national-news"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/AT-602edit-1.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19017","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19017"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19017\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19044,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19017\/revisions\/19044"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19022"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19017"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19017"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19017"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/i-WrH7J7h-X3edit.jpg\")