Crop-dusters face new rules

BEAMAN, Iowa (AP) — Crop-dusters keep Iowa's farm fields and the economy healthy.

Agriculture aviation contributes $214 million to the state's economy because of increased crop productivity, according to a study by the Iowa Department of Transportation's Office of Aviation.

Also, 86 percent of Iowa's general aviation airports support crop-dusters, the report said. Those small airfields contribute more than $400 million to the state's economy.

Nebraska licenses 507 pilots as crop-dusters, 259 of them from outside the state. About 300 of them planned to operate in the state this year.

Buzz Vance, certification specialist for the Nebraska Department of Agriculture, said a new state law requires all crop-dusters who operate in the state to either have a business license or to operate under an in-state pilot who has a license.

“Some of their activity is too brief,” Vance said. “They may come into Nebraska and fly for two or three days or a week and then they're gone. It's very hard for our agency or others to track people down if there's drift or other situation we need to respond to.”

So far, Nebraska doesn't keep figures on the number of flights or how many acres are dusted by air, but state officials are looking at new rules that would require crop-dusters to give notice of spraying.

Tim Creger, pesticide program manager for the ag department, said there's an interim legislative study this year on the issue, requested by property owners and also by utility companies whose workers go into fields without knowing whether it has been recently sprayed.

A possible proposal would allow people to register with the state if they want to be notified about crop dusting, Creger said.

Some sprayers already post flags to warn people of recent applications, and many of the pesticides used today are less toxic to humans.

Four or five years ago, a fungicide developed by BASF turned out to boost grain production, prompting more spraying both on the ground and by air, he said. This year, grasshoppers are a special problem in the Panhandle, but soybean aphids are largely absent in Nebraska, Creger said.

Two pilots have been killed in crop-dusting accidents this year, he said, and one was seriously injured and is still hospitalized.

Such accidents, plus incidents of accidental spraying of people or areas that shouldn't be treated, bring out the critics.

“One accident is too many,” said Tim McClung, planning and outreach manager for Iowa's Office of Aviation. “At the same time, we need to keep it in perspective. There's 4 million acres treated by air in Iowa every year. That works out to about 26,000 annual missions.”

Farmers often rely on planes and helicopters to apply chemicals to control yield-robbing diseases and pests once plants get too big for ground treatment. Pilots typically starting applications in early July and have little more than two months to get the job done.

According to the Iowa Department of Transportation, there are 50 aerial spraying companies in the state. An estimated 150 to 200 out-of-state companies also work in Iowa.

Considering the amount of ground that's covered in a relatively short amount of time, McClung said, crop-dusters do a good job.

McClung, who also is a pilot, said crop-dusting is a difficult, sometimes dangerous job. Aircraft swoop in to spray only a few feet off the ground. Pilots need to avoid electrical lines, trees and wind turbines and ensure that chemicals land on target.

“They've really been pushing a culture of safety,” McClung said.

At Hoppe Airspray near Beaman, Iowa, co-owner Roy Sharp said every precaution is taken to protect pilots and the public.

Hoppe's four planes have GPS technology. One employee's job is keep track of where detasselers are working — some were sprayed in Grundy County in July by a different company — and areas that can't get sprayed, like organic crops, land with commercial bee hives and fruit and vegetable plots.

“It gives us peace of mind we're doing a good job,” Sharp said. “Pilots are very aware of where chemicals will be by the time they hit the ground.”

Farmers say crop-dusters play a vital role in grain production.

This summer's hot, humid and wet conditions spurred fungus growth in corn. Some disease issues also cropped up in soybeans, and soybean aphids are starting to become a problem.

On average, crop-dusting costs from $15 to $25 per acre.

Dave Hommel of rural Eldora, Iowa, had 650 acres of corn and 200 acres of soybeans sprayed.

“We'll see the benefits. I noticed leaf areas cleaned up after (spraying),” he said.

It's not uncommon to see a 10- to 30-bushel yield response in corn, farmers say. A soybean field infested with aphids can see yield reductions of 20 bushels or more per acre.

Farmers also like the immediacy of aerial spraying. One plane can cover 1,000 to 2,000 acres a day, Sharp said.

Historically, aerial spraying is good, but results vary by year, said Tim Burrack, a grain farmer near Arlington and member of the Iowa Corn Promotion Board.

“Farmers realize the benefit.”

World-Herald staff writer Steve Jordon contributed to this account.

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