COVER CROPS PRESS RELEASE AVAILABLE FOR MEMBERS TO SEND TO LOCAL MEDIA OUTLETS (9/14/2023): While the season for aerial applicators is slowing down in several parts of the country, many applicators are seeding cover crop seeds into late summer and early fall. NAAA has prepared a sample press release that you can personalize to your own aerial application business and send to your local media outlets. Read More
REPORT ILLEGAL DRONE APPLICATIONS (6/1/2023): NAAA receives constant reports from commercial manned and unmanned aerial application businesses about drone application work that is being conducted outside of the law. NAAA has been told that unregistered drone activities, in addition to allegations that label directions, including required gallons of carrier per acre, active ingredient measurements per acre and boom length limits, are being violated. Professional commercial applicators that apply by air—either as part of a farming business or a separate aerial application business—must be licensed. Read More
NAAA CAUTIONS HOBBYIST AND PROFESSIONAL DRONE OPERATORS NOT TO DISRUPT MANNED AG AIRCRAFT THIS GROWING SEASON (4/4/2023): As the nation enters the 2023 growing season, NAAA is asking all unmanned aircraft (UA) operators to be mindful of low-altitude manned agricultural aircraft operations. “With the growing number of drones over the last few years, it is critical for their operators to be aware of low-flying, manned agricultural aircraft,” NAAA CEO Andrew Moore said. “It is extremely difficult, if not impossible, for manned aircraft to see a drone while conducting crop-enhancing and other aerial applications 10 feet off the ground at speeds as fast as 140 mph. We encourage professional and hobbyist drone operators to keep this in mind to ensure a safe 2023 growing season.” Read more
NAAA AND JIM MILLS OF TURBINES INC. ESTABLISH CHARLES STOKES MEMORIAL TURBINE TRAINING SCHOLARSHIP (3/23/2023): Two $3,000 scholarships are available to eligible NAAA Operator and Pilot members for turbine transition training through the newly created Charles Stokes Memorial Turbine Training Scholarship. The new NAAA scholarship program came to fruition thanks to a generous educational grant from Jim Mills of Turbines Inc., who established the scholarship in memory of Charles Stokes. The turbine transition scholarship will be awarded starting this year. The deadline is Aug. 31. Read more
APPLICATION OPEN FOR C-PAASS 2023: CERTIFIED-PROFESSIONAL AERIAL APPLICATOR SAFETY STEWARD CERTIFICATION (2/16/2023): Aerial applicators, now more than ever, operate in an environment of competing interests. An ever-increasing demand for timely and effective applications is challenged by factors such as added regulatory burden, rising insurance costs and stiffer pesticide label language, just to name a few. The agricultural aviation industry is rising to these challenges and, in character, has moved to advance education, rather than regulation, as the path forward. NAAA and NAAREF have jointly launched the Certified-Professional Aerial Applicator Safety Steward (C-PAASS) program to serve as the industry’s flagship certification and as a roadmap for the pursuit of the best educational opportunities available. Read more
NAAA MEMBERSHIP VIDEO SHOWS WHY YOU SHOULD RENEW YOUR MEMBERSHIP OR JOIN NAAA (10/21/22): NAAA delivers remarkable value that benefits aerial applicators’ bottom line, provides the crop input tools they need, enhances the industry’s safety and professionalism through substantive educational programming and offers excellent business networking opportunities. Need more reasons for why you should join or renew your NAAA membership? Watch our new video, where you’ll hear from fellow aerial applicators why membership is essential to their business—and yours. Read more
NAAA’S ‘FIND AN AERIAL APPLICATOR’ DATABASE CONNECTS FARMERS WITH AERIAL APPLICATORS (5/23/22): America’s aerial applicators are primed and ready to support farmers in need of fast, timely and effective applications this growing season. If they don’t have an existing relationship with an aerial applicator, farmers in need of an aerial application service provider should search NAAA’s “Find an Aerial Applicator” database to look for one in their area.
NAAA EXHIBITS AT AG DAY ON THE MALL (3/24/22): NAAA and Helicopter Applicators Inc. from Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, exhibited at Ag Day on the Mall, a two-day event, and talked to a multitude of policymakers, regulators, media members and everyday citizens who checked out the Bell 206 LongRanger helicopter on display halfway between the U.S. Capitol and the Washington Monument. Read More
NAAA RELEASES BOOK OF THE CENTURY—A CENTURY OF AG AVIATION! (7/28/21): Thirty-five years after the first great historical account of the industry—Mabry Anderson’s Low & Slow: An Insider’s History of Agricultural Aviation—comes a new, updated account of aerial application’s history from the National Agricultural Aviation Association: Agriculture’s Air Force: 100 Years of Aerial Application. Order your copy today! Read More
WATCH 100TH ANNIVERSARY OF AERIAL APPLICATION CELEBRATION FROM AUG. 3! Aug. 3, 2021, was a momentous day for the aerial application industry because it marked the 100th birthday of the first aerial application! On Aug. 3, 1921, Lt. John A. Macready flew a Curtiss JN-6 from McCook Field in Ohio to a nearby catalpa tree grove grown for the wood that was used for railroad ties and poles. Lead arsenate was applied over the grove to kill sphinx moth larvae. The speed, efficiency and overwhelming effectiveness of the aerial dusting experiment spawned the birth of the aerial application industry. On Aug. 3, NAAA hosted a centennial celebration in Leesburg, Virginia, to commemorate this anniversary. NAAA and Rusty and Lea Lindeman presented to the American public (represented by the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum) a full-sized, fully flight-capable replica of Dusty Crophopper, the “star” of Disney’s 2013 popular animated feature film Planes and 2014’s Planes: Fire & Rescue. Watch a video of the event here.
NAAA PROVIDES PROOF OF DISTANCE NEEDED TO SAFELY TURN AN AG AIRCRAFT TO REFUTE CLAIMS MADE BY WIND FARMS, TOWERS, OTHER OBSTRUCTIONS (7/23/2020): NAAA has developed useful information to refute proposed setback distances from wind turbines and other tower-like obstructions. The information may be used by operators and state associations when dealing wind farm and tower companies claiming that their obstructions do not hamper aerial application activities to crops. Read More
FIVE FACTS YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT AERIAL APPLICATION AND UAVS: Over the last few years, NAAA has consistently needed to set the record straight about inaccurate and/or misleading claims made about how unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) technology can act as a wholesale replacement to manned aircraft applying crop protection products. NAAA believes UAV application technologies can be a valuable tool for growers by complementing manned aircraft. But it is vital for those desiring aerial application services to know the facts about the capabilities of manned aircraft and UAVs before making financial decisions. Here are five facts regarding the more commonly repeated inaccurate claims about manned aerial application. Read More
NAAA UPDATES CHECKLIST FOR PILOTS SUBJECT TO THE DISCHARGE OF A FIREARM TARGETING AN AG AIRCRAFT: In response to a series of shooting threats and incidents in 2019, NAAA updated its checklist of actions operators and pilots can take in the event someone threatens to or discharges a firearm at their aircraft. NAAA has now updated that checklist to cite the specific federal laws that are violated when someone shoots, or threatens to shoot, an aircraft. Read More
IN THE EVENT OF A UAV ENCOUNTER, FOLLOW NAAA’S PILOT-UAV ENCOUNTER CHECKLIST: If you or a pilot of yours has a near-miss encounter with a UAV or, worse, is hit by one, undoubtedly one of the main things going through your mind after the initial shock subsides is what to do and who to call to report the encounter. NAAA has prepared a handy checklist of steps to take after a UAV encounter. Read More
MARK AND LOG TOWERS TODAY TO AVOID LIABILITY AND COMPLY WITH UPCOMING FAA REGULATIONS: Many landowners and farmers might not be aware that due to provisions in both the FAA Extension, Safety and Security Act of 2016 and the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2018, towers between 50 and 200 feet tall with an above-ground base of less than 10 feet in diameter in rural areas are legally required to be marked and/or logged in a database the FAA is currently developing. Read More
NAAA AD ENCOURAGES GROWERS TO LEARN BEFORE THEY LEASE TO WIND ENERGY COMPANIES: NAAA created an ad that encourages landowners and growers to consider all the facts and potential ramifications before they lease their property to a wind energy entity. The ad is available to members in a variety of sizes and colors to place in their local newspapers and ag publications. Read More
VIDEO AND NARRATIVE UNDERSCORING TOWER MARKING’S EFFECTIVENESS AVAILABLE: NAAA is making available video showing the challenge low-level agricultural pilots have in seeing unmarked towers and the difference in visibility if those towers are marked and lighted. The video was provided to NAAA with permission by Roger Dreyer and Karen Allen. Read More