Aerial application, orcrop dusting,[1] involves spraying crops with crop protection products from anagricultural aircraft. Planting certain types of seed are also included in aerial application. The specific spreading of fertilizer is also known asaerial topdressingin some countries. In the USA in 2018 about 25% of pesticides used on commercial farms, and about 100% of forestry products are applied aerially.[2] TheEuropean Union severely limited aerial application ofpesticides in 2009 and other products because of environmental and public health hazards likespray drift.[3]
Agricultural aircraft are highly specialized, purpose-built aircraft. Today's agricultural aircraft are often powered by turbine engines of up to 1,500 shp (1,100 kW) and can carry as much as 800 US gallons (3,000 L) of crop protection product.Helicopters are sometimes used, and some aircraft serve double duty aswater bombers in areas prone towildfires. These aircraft are referred to as SEAT, or "single engine air tankers."
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The first known aerial application of agricultural materials was by John Chaytor, who in 1906 spread seed over a swamped valley floor inWairoa, New Zealand, using ahot air balloon with mobile tethers.[4] Aerial sowing of seed still continues to this day with cover crop applications and rice planting.
The first known use of a heavier-than-air machine to disperse products occurred on August 3, 1921.[5] Crop dusting was developed under the joint efforts of theU.S. Department of Agriculture and theU.S. Army Signal Corps' research station atMcCook Field inDayton, Ohio.[5] Under the direction of McCook engineerEtienne Dormoy, aUnited States Army Air ServiceCurtiss JN4 Jenny piloted byJohn A. Macready was modified at McCook Field to spreadlead arsenate to killcatalpa sphinxcaterpillars at acatalpa farm nearTroy, Ohio in theUnited States.[5][6] The first test was considered highly successful.[5]
The first commercial cropdusting operations began in 1924 inMacon, Georgia[7] by Huff-Daland Crop Dusting, which was co-founded by McCook Field test pilot Lt. Harold R. Harris.[5] Use ofinsecticide andfungicide for crop dusting slowly spread in the Americas and, to a lesser extent, other nations in the 1930s. The name 'crop dusting' originated here, as actual dust was spread across the crops. Today, aerial applicators use liquid crop protection products in very small doses.
Aerial topdressing is the aerial application of fertilisers over farmland using agricultural aircraft. It was developed in New Zealand in the 1940s and rapidly adopted elsewhere in the 1950s.[8]
In 1951, Leland Snow designed the first aircraft specifically built for aerial application, the S-1. In 1957, TheGrumman G-164 Ag-Cat was the first aircraft designed by a major company for agricultural aviation. Currently, the most common agricultural aircraft are theAir Tractor,Cessna Ag-wagon,Gippsland GA200,Grumman Ag Cat,PZL-106 KRUK,M-18 Dromader,PAC Fletcher,Piper PA-36 Pawnee Brave,Embraer EMB 202 Ipanema, andRockwell Thrush Commander, but multi-purposehelicopters are also used.
Since the late 1990s,unmanned aerial vehicles have also been used for agricultural spraying. This phenomenon started in Japan and South Korea, where mountainous terrain and relatively small family-owned farms required lower-cost and higher-precision spraying. As of 2014[update], the use of UAV crop dusters, such as theYamaha R-MAX, is being expanded to the United States for use in spraying at vineyards.[9]
TheNational Institute of Environmental Health Sciences keeps track of relevant research.[10] Historically, there has been concerns about the effects of aerial applications of pesticides and the chemicals' effects as they spread in the air. For example, the aerial application ofmancozeb is likely a source of concern for pregnant women.[11][12]
Since the 1970s, multiple countries started to limit or ban the aerial application of pesticides,fertilizers, and other products out of environmental and public health concerns, in particular from spray drift. Most notably, in 2009, theEuropean Union prohibited aerial spraying of pesticides with a few highly-restricted exceptions in article 9 ofDirective 2009/128/EC of theEuropean Parliament and of theCouncil establishing a framework for Community action to achieve the sustainable use of pesticides, which effectively ended most aerial application in all member states and overseas territories.[3]
TheUnited States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) provides guideline documents and hosts webinars about best practices for aerial application.[2]
In 2010, theUnited States Forest Service collected public comments to use within a Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS), which was developed because theMontanaFederal District Court ruled that aerial application of fire retardants during wildfires violated the Endangered Species Act.[13]
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