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- NAAA and HAI’s Participation in Precision Application Field Day Reaches MAHA Commission and EPA Staffers
- U.S.’s Fifth Largest Pesticide Manufacturer, FMC, Hosts NAAA at its Delaware Research Facility
- NAAA Mourns the Loss of Bryan Holland of Mississippi
- 2026 NAAA/Syngenta Leadership Training Program Applications Accepted Until July 18, 2025
NAAA and HAI’s Participation in Precision Application Field Day Reaches MAHA Commission and EPA Staffers
Last week, the NAAA and Helicopter Applicators, Inc. (HAI), the aerial application operation out of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania led by Glenn Martin, participated in a two-day precision agriculture field day to demonstrate the progressive technologies and application techniques used by pesticide applicators to maximize efficiency and protect the environment. The audience for the demonstrations included key ag and health advisors to President Trump, including one of the architects of the controversial Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) Commission, USDA, the EPA’s Office of Water, and the EPA’s Office of Pesticide Programs. Calley Means, Senior Adviser to U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., and MAHA initiative advocate, attended the first day of the precision agriculture event. The MAHA Commission, a presidential advisory body focusing on childhood chronic diseases in the U.S., recently released its hastily constructed initial assessment using both outdated and judicially discredited studies critical of a number of pesticides some no longer in use today. Click here to read more. Also attending was Kip Tom, former Trump Administration U.S. Ambassador to the UN Agencies for Food and Agriculture, and Jason Becker, White House agricultural advisor.
The second day of the event included over fifty federal staffers, mostly from EPA, including Director of the Office of Pesticide Programs Ed Messina.
NAAA and HAI manned a station that included a Bell Long Ranger ag helicopter. The station demonstrated the sophisticated technology, including different nozzles, global positioning satellite systems, onboard meteorological technology, flow control systems, droplet sizing software, etc., enabling aerial applications to be targeted and efficacious. HAI pilot Chris Heffner performed two different live aerial application demonstrations to the crowd in attendance.
The precision ag demonstration event was organized by the Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM) in Newburg, Maryland, at Chip Bowling’s family farm. Bowling’s family has farmed in Maryland for seven generations, and he was former chairman of both the National Corn Growers Association and the U.S. Farmers & Ranchers Alliance. NAAA thanks HAI, AEM and Chip Bowling for their great work in making the event a success.
U.S.’s Fifth Largest Pesticide Manufacturer, FMC, Hosts NAAA at its Delaware Research Facility
Last week NAAA’s Dr. Scott Bretthauer and Andrew Moore were hosted by FMC Corporation, one of the oldest pesticide companies in the U.S., at its Stine Research Center in Newark, Delaware. FMC, established in 1883, with nearly a score of key company representatives ranging from its regulatory director and marketing analyst to its senior research and development scientists, provided NAAA a tour of its facility on how a potential pesticide active ingredient moves through the rigorous multimillion dollar, decades long process to becoming a registered pesticide. Moore said about the tour, “if current political leaders questioning the importance and safety of these invaluable tools for U.S. farmers could see the thoughtful, ultracareful process that pesticides undergo before reaching market, they would come away with an entirely different and positive perspective.”
Meeting with pesticide manufactures to inform them about more realistic drift model use and aerial application survey results detailing average acres treated by air and drift reduction technologies commonly used in the industry is part of NAAA’s mission to help pesticide manufacturers obtain aerial use labels on their products from EPA. Moore and Bretthauer provided a presentation to FMC on these subjects and on marketing mediums the NAAA has in place to reach the aerial application industry.
NAAA Mourns the Loss of Bryan Holland of Mississippi
Bryan Frank Holland of Greenville, MS, was fatally injured in an ag aviation accident that occurred on June 6, 2025. He was 41 at the time of his passing.
Bryan played two years of college baseball at Mississippi Delta Community College before walking on at Mississippi State. It was during his time at Mississippi State when Bryan decided to pursue his love of flying. He enrolled in the Flying Tigers Flight School, where his dream of working as an ag pilot would become reality. At the time of his death, Bryan was working as an ag pilot for Farm Brothers Flying Service in Pine Bluff, Arkansas.
Bryan was a devoted husband to his wife, Ashley, and a loving father to their two daughters, Landry and Analee. He was a passionate community volunteer. When away from his career as an ag pilot, he was often found on the softball or soccer fields where he volunteered his time as a coach to young athletes. He loved encouraging his team members to not only play the game but to love being part of a team and working together.
Bryan’s funeral was held on June 13, 2025, and he was buried at Hollandale Cemetery in Hollandale, MS. Read his full obituary here.
A fund has been established at Guaranty Bank for the Holland family. Send your donation to:
Guaranty Bank
536 Washington Avenue
Greenville, MS 38701
Attn: Mildred Carter
Memo Line: Ashley Oswalt Holland Fund
2026 NAAA/Syngenta Leadership Training Program Applications Accepted Until July 18, 2025
Since 1995, NAAA, in partnership with Syngenta Crop Protection, has offered the Leadership Training Program (LTP) to develop leaders within the aerial application industry. Over the past 29 classes, more than 365 NAAA members have graduated from the program. Applications are now being accepted for the 2026 program. The deadline to apply is July 18, 2025.
LTP equips participants with the communication and leadership skills needed to effectively represent the aerial application industry to the public, media, and government. It also covers management strategies to support participants in growing their businesses and becoming stronger leaders within NAAA and state or regional agricultural aviation associations.
- 12 participants will attend the LTP in Washington, D.C., February 10–14, 2026.
- 2 participants will attend the full Syngenta “Leadership At Its Best” (LAIB) program January 19–23, 2026 (includes participants from other national agricultural organizations).
In total, 14 individuals will be selected to participate. Each state or regional agricultural aviation association, along with the Canadian Aerial Applicators Association, may nominate one candidate. A selection committee appointed by the NAAA President will choose the most qualified applicants.
If you’re interested in being considered for the 2026 Leadership Training Program, contact your state or regional agricultural aviation association’s executive director for the application link. Only one candidate may be nominated per association.
Candidates must meet the following requirements:
- Industry Involvement:
Must work in an agricultural aviation business or an allied industry organization. Eligible roles include:
• Owners (partial or full) of agricultural aircraft
• Managing employees, stockholders, or pilots of an ag aviation business
• Employees of Allied Industry Member companies or state associations - Leadership Experience:
Prior leadership in a state/regional ag aviation association, community service, or professional/school organizations. - Commitment to the Industry:
A demonstrated interest in continued involvement in the aerial application industry.
For more information about the 2026 NAAA/Syngenta Leadership Training Program, contact Amay@agaviation.org.
In Case You Missed Last Week’s NAAA eNewsletter
Click here for the June 12, 2025 eNewsletter to read:
- NAAA Secures Further Benefits for Aerial Applicators in EPA’s Final Insecticide Strategy
- Executive Orders Pushing FAA for Expedited BVLOS Rulemaking
- FAA Assessing Suppression of Private Aircraft Owner/Operator Info – NAAA Seeks Expansion to Part 137
- NAAA Battles for Aerial Applications of New Insecticide—Isocycloseram—on All Crops and in All States
- Decades of Dedication: FAA Recognizes NAAA Member Jim Bartholomew
- NAAA Ag Aviation Expo Hotel Room Block Open
- NAAA Comments on Petition for Fixed-Wing Drone BVLOS Part 137 Operations
- FAA Updates Guidance on Part 137 Certification Process
- Superseding AD Issued for R44 Flex Plates and Clutch Yokes
- AD Issued for AStar Cargo Swing Frame