“You're going to have a lot more programs coming … government funding for, for climate smart agriculture and carbon sequestration. You're seeing a lot of money, whether it's through the $2 trillion spending programs, spending bills that have occurred this year or the past year for either infrastructure or for renewable energy.”
— Andrew Moore, CEO National Agricultural Aviation Association
This week’s episode of the Cover Crop Strategies podcast, brought to you by Source by Sound Agriculture, features an interview with Andrew Moore, the Executive Director at the National Agricultural Aviation Association.
Moore talks about some of the economic factors that will drive the cost of flying in cover crops or aerial termination. Also, he covers tips for how to work safely
Wallace also talks about equipment, herbicide equipment, and fertility manage can affect the decision to seed or interseed and more.
The Cover Crop Strategies podcast series is brought to you by SOURCE®️ by Sound Agriculture.
SOURCE®️ from Sound Agriculture is a soil activator that gives crops access to a more efficient source of nitrogen and phosphorus. A foliar application of SOURCE provides 25 pounds of nitrogen & phosphorus per acre and enhances micronutrient uptake by stimulating beneficial microbes, and its performance is supported by a cash-back guarantee. Learn more at www.sound.ag.
Full Transcript
Brian O'Connor:
Hello and welcome to the Cover Crop Strategies Podcast brought to you by SOURCE by Sound Agriculture. Today I'm talking to Andrew Moore, president of the National Agricultural Aviation Association. He's going to talk about aerial seeding of cover crops, safely using a drone and ground aircraft, and more. Let's get to it.
Andrew Moore:
My name is Andrew Moore and I am the CEO of the National Agricultural Aviation Association.
Brian O'Connor:
Got it. And that's for all intents and purposes, that's crop dusters and also aerial planters. Anything involving a plane in a farm, essentially, right? Is that true?
Andrew Moore:
Yes. I mean, the members of NAAA represent aerial applicators, and of course, a older term is crop dusters. And so, we treat land that is grown for crops. We do seed treatments, we do fertilizer treatments, we do insecticides, fungicides, herbicides, organic work as well. And our members also do forestry, so-
Brian O'Connor:
Oh wow.
Andrew Moore:
... that forestry can be for forests that are used to harvest timber and whatnot, but also firefighting. Our members do a lot of firefighting and we do public health spraying too, so mosquito abatement and stuff like that.
Brian O'Connor:
You guys work with the big scoopers that come and suck stuff out of the lake and drop it, or is that ... that's more maybe the fire-
Andrew Moore:
Actually, yes. Our members use what's called a seat aircraft. So basically it's just a converted ag aircraft. It's a larger ag aircraft, 600 gallons plus, air tractor for one has what's called an air tractor 802. It's an 800 gallon hopper, where the materials go. And what they do is there's this company called Wipaire, that creates pontoons. So, the pontoons allow for the aircraft to skim on water, and it sucks up the water into the pontoons and into the hopper, and then can fly directly to where a fire is, for fire prevention.
So, when you're treating a fire, the gates open immediately and you've dumped your load in less than four seconds probably. As opposed to when you're treating with a spreader for dry material, or a boom system of nozzles for liquid.
Brian O'Connor:
Now, is the fall typically when you guys do a lot of your businesses? Can you put me in a perspective? I know the farmer routine, or feel like I know the farmer routine pretty well, is that at this point, harvest is completed. They're looking at fertilizer application, they're looking at, in some cases conventional tillage, although I work for a publication no-till farmer, and you can probably guess where their bias is, but just for aviators, are we at a similar juncture now? Where in the annual agricultural cycle are the pilots right now, or the owner operators for these small businesses?
Andrew Moore:
Yeah, most of them are slowing down if not already shut down. It all depends on where you are. So if you're in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas, or the Imperial Valley of California, or in Florida, you're going to be doing some work. And even further north as well, maybe still doing some defoliating work for soybeans or cotton in more of the southern, southeast part of the country. Or there could be some cover crop applications going on as well. But for the most part, if you're up in the northern Midwest, northeast, you're slowing down, you're starting to do your annuals on your engines and maybe even hunting deer.
Brian O'Connor:
All right. So, in that case, if farmers are looking to obtain an aerial application for cover crops at this juncture here, and we know that there are some species that over winter, or that winter kill by design, is it easier or harder to find somebody with a plane to do that now?
Andrew Moore:
No, they could find it. I think most of the cover crops have been applied by now, is I guess where I was going, or what I should have said. And the beauty, I guess, of making a cover crop application by air is that it can be done pre-harvest. So, whether you have corn, soybeans, wheat, you can lay down that cover crop, whether it's rye, or legumes, or clover seed, or what have you, before the harvest and that allows more time. The plant can still grow even though it's within that cash crop canopy, but it has more time to grow, which allows for more time to aerate the soil, more time to hydrate the soil, more time to provide nutrients for that soil and provide that cover crop to maintain the soil right over the winter. And when you have rains and like your no-till, guys, that's the beauty of it.
So, you're going to get just more development of that cover crop by applying it by air, and we're seeing it grow in our industry. I think the last survey we did was the 2017 season, so we're looking at five years now. But at that point we were doing close to four million acres of cover crops throughout the country, and now you're going to have a lot more programs coming, I guess, government funding for climate smart agriculture and carbon sequestration. So, you're seeing a lot of money, whether it's through the $2 trillion spending programs, spending bills that have occurred this year or the past year, for either infrastructure or for renewable energy, that has a lot of funding for climate smart agriculture. And part of that is providing benefits to farmers that do cover crop applications.
Brian O'Connor:
So, what are the concerns associated with aerial seeding that farmers should be aware of? I know a lot of guys use old box drills or that kind of thing, if they moved on to a planter. Some guys will use their planter to plant cover crops. I guess the concern is in-furrow and seed to soil conflict, or seed to soil contact rather. With cover crops spreading via plane, do we get a sufficient height or terminal velocity for the seats to go into the soil? Or is this equivalent to broadcasting in terms of how the seeds are dispersed?
Andrew Moore:
It's more broadcast, but it does take root. I mean, it's similar to when you put out grass seed, I guess, for your lawn at the same time of year. The technology is always improving. So remember, you have a spreader that you're putting underneath your aircraft. It's basically just covers the distance of basically the fuselage, as opposed to when you're doing a liquid application, you're going to have a boom system that goes out 75% of the wingspan. But what happens as well is you're flying higher, so you're flying instead of 10 feet off the ground for a liquid application, you're flying 40 feet above the ground. And as you're applying, you're still getting a pretty good swath. It has more time to ... I guess the swath has more time to triangulate, for lack of a better word. And we're also seeing a lot better technology in terms of equipping ... Our members do precision applications, so variable rate applications, enabling or taking into account wind speed and direction. You'll have onboard anemometers that can tell you the wind speed direction, so you can best line up that swath, so the seed is not going into another field or elsewhere, it's going to where it's needed. So, those are technologies that are always improving in terms of making those applications.
Brian O'Connor:
Got it. What do farmers need to provide in the way of directions? I would imagine GPS coordinates would suffice at this point, in this day and age, but do we have to worry about one field being mistaken for another while guys are doing, this kind of thing? Is there any kind of special criteria or information that farmers can provide to help pilots do their job better?
Andrew Moore:
Yeah, I mean, it's never heard of their ... I mean, they'll show you the field, they'll show you the ... and our farmers can call it up and get the exact geospatial coordinates. And then 100% of our industry is equipped with GPS. And it's not just GPS, but it's like I said, these onboard anemometers, it's flow control, so that ... Well, if you're making an application, fertilizer, even seeding, if you provide some sort of detailed digital map of the field, that may show where ... This is particularly the case with fertilizers and pesticides, but if there's more plant stress in one area, whether it's a fungus, whether it's lack of nutrients, more material can go to that area and less in other areas where there isn't that plant stress. I mean, applications with seed could be the same, but I think seed applications are pretty much all a fixed rate, if you will.
Brian O'Connor:
We'll get back to my interview with Andrew Moore, CEO of the National Agricultural Aviation Association in a moment. Right now, I'd like to take a moment to thank our sponsor, SOURCE from Sound Agriculture. SOURCE from Sound Agriculture unlocks more of the nitrogen and phosphorus already in your fields, so you can rely less on expensive fertilizer.
This foliar applied chemistry has a low use rate and you can mix it right into your tank. Check out SOURCE, it's like caffeine for microbes. Learn more at www.sound.a. Now, back to my discussion with Andrew Moore.
For the spring. If I wanted somebody to drop cover crops pre-plant, how early should I be looking at? Can we expect costs to rise with the way that avgas ... and I assume it's avgas that most of you guys are burning. Can we expect additional costs to be incurred if we elect to go the aerial seeding route as a cover crop?
Andrew Moore:
Yeah, and just as an FYI it's mostly jet A.
Brian O'Connor:
Got it.
Andrew Moore:
So, 80% of our fleet today is turbo prop aircraft. And remember, we have about 16% of our industry are also rotorcraft helicopters, but the large majority of the industry, and even larger in terms of acres treated, but in terms of the fleet, it's 80%, maybe 90% in terms of the acres treated. In terms of fuel supply, it actually has gotten better. 2021 was a tough year. That's when you really started to see the effects of COVID and lack of refining and so forth hit the industry. But a lot of it was just not being able ... In certain parts where there was drought, like in the Pacific Northwest, it was a bad fire year in Washington and Idaho, and there was supply issues for aerial applicators, some aerial applicators but it wasn't devastating.
This year, yes, the price of fuel has been higher, but in most ... whether you're a commercial applicator on the ground or in the air, you probably are going to have fuel surcharge. I would say the expectations, I mean, we are seeing fuel prices going down, we're seeing inflation going down. Now, it's maybe more of a trickle than a stream, but it is happening. So, I don't foresee those being issues that are going to be exacerbated, they'll probably only improve in terms of supply and cost.
Brian O'Connor:
One of the things that we're talking, because we're right now working on the National Cover Crop Summit, I'm getting speakers together for that. And one of the things we're looking at, because we know there's a lot of energy in this region for farmers, is drones. Have you guys seen, and I guess, what are the steps that I should take, to make sure that my drone interacts in a safe manner with agricultural aviationists?
Andrew Moore:
Yeah, great question. And drones are an important part of precision ag. They can be in terms of mapping, providing great images for crops, of crops, so to help farmers know what inputs, if any, they might need in certain areas. Easier than walking into the field. But safety is a big issue. We want to make sure that the drone operator always gives the right of way to a manned aircraft. We do have, at the National Agricultural Aviation Association, we have a website, which is agaviation.org, agaviation.org. And it allows you as well to ... there's a function on each page on the top right, that allows you to find an aerial applicator near you.
It's not every aerial applicator, it's the NAAA members, but that are on there where you could type in your ZIP code and see if there's an aerial applicator near you. Be in conversation with them saying, "Hey, I might be flying near you or near where your operation is. Want to make sure that we're having a good dialogue to know where you might be and you'll know where I might be." It's very difficult with some of these smaller drones to see. So, we've done studies, there was a study in Colorado done a few years ago now, where four out of five ag pilots were flying. They knew there was a drone in the vicinity, they didn't know exactly where and they had to try to spot it, but they knew it was out there, so they were looking for it.
Four out of five were unable to see it. And the one that was able to see it only saw it for a short bit of time. So, that's why it's so important to give right of way. Equip as well with ADSB out technology, which basically provides ... Yes, if the aerial applicator has ADSB technology and the drone operator has ADSB technology, that drone operator will know that there's an ag aircraft there. And probably, like I said, just give right of way, because the aerial applicator's not necessarily going to see it.
And there have been instances where, say a bird, a one and a half pound mallard, drake, or a turkey vulture, or a red-tail hawk will go through the windshield of an ag aircraft or lodge deep into the leading edge of a wing. So, they can be dangerous when you're dealing with a drone, which is hard plastic, that could be even worse. And they tend to be much heavier as well.
Brian O'Connor:
In general, has the interest in drones driven membership for you guys? Could I be considered myself an aerial agriculturalist if I am a custom drone service provider? Is that not really what you guys do?
Andrew Moore:
No, absolutely. I mean, we do have a precision ag membership category, but we also have a aerial application operator category. So, if you're doing imaging, you could join in the precision ag category. If you're doing application, you would join as the operator category. We do have members that do both, meaning one or the other, or both. They could do both imaging and application. They could do one or the other.
In order to make an application by air commercially, you do also have to, one, get your part 107 drone license, but also your part 137 federal aviation regulation license, to make an aerial application. So, you'd have to have both of those. Those are both required to make commercial applications by air.
Brian O'Connor:
Trying to think if there's any other questions, issues related to aerial application cover crops. Anything I missed or anything you want to add? Any novel trends you're aware of?
Andrew Moore:
Yeah, I think it's a very exciting area. I've mentioned everything in terms of soil hydration, nutrients to the soil, hydration to the soil, keeping that soil binded and in place, but also it's a carbon sequester, a major carbon sequester. So, that's very exciting and I think it's only going to be an area that's growing as well.
And the other thing, we have a couple operators that are doing studies, they'll apply clover this time of year, maybe a little earlier, and then they'll actually plant over that clover, whether it's soybeans, whether it's corn, they'll let that clover blossom. Bees, honey bees go crazy for clover. So, it's feeding the bees, it's feeding pollinators, all which is another benefit to the environmental benefit. And then once that clover blossom has passed, that's when they'll go in and probably use a herbicide to clean it out, to keep the nutrients for the cash crop. So, it's really an exciting and growing area in our industry.
Brian O'Connor:
Well, I think you had a website that you wanted to plug. If I need to find the local aerial applicator near me, what was that website one more time? [inaudible 00:20:07] for our listeners?
Andrew Moore:
Yeah, our website is ... and usually just Google NAAA, that will bring up in the first Google selection, our website. But if you want to just type it in, it's also ag, which is A-G-, alpha, golf, aviation, agaviation.org. And our find and aerial applicator click through, where you could type in your ZIP code or so forth, is in the upper right-hand corner.
Brian O'Connor:
That was my interview with Andrew Moore, CEO of the National Agricultural Aviation Association. If you like this podcast, want to listen to more like it, we have our whole back catalog available at www.covercropstrategies.com/podcasts. The transcript of this episode will be available there shortly. You can email me at B-O-C-O-N-N-O-R@lessitermedia.com, or call me at (262) 777-2413 if you have any feedback. Like and subscribe whenever we release a new episode of this podcast. I'm Brian O'Connor, your host, and for all of us at Lessiter Media, thanks for listening and cover up.
Post a comment
Report Abusive Comment