Skyfarmers

Nevertheless, the core business of most aerial ag operators continues to be using aircraft to apply fertilisers, herbicides and fungicides to large tracts of land quickly and efficiently. In this way, aerial ag plays a major role in increasing crop yields and quality which eventually flows through to the wider population.

Key crops which rely on aerial agriculture in the eastern states are rice and cotton, while in WA and South Australia the wheat industry is the industry’s biggest user.

“While all operation are important to aerial ag, you can’t get away from the fundamentals that a lot of the turnover of the industry, particularly in the intensive work, is in that rice and cotton area,” says Phil Hurst, CEO of the Aerial Agriculture Association of Australia (AAAA, or ‘Four As’).

According to the latest figures from the Bureau of Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Economics (BITRE), aerial ag operations in 2006 accounted for 61,700 flying hours. While the hours only represent approximately four per cent of total GA flying hours, this figure does not tell the full story of how aerial ag in Australia has developed over the years.

In recent times, the industry has been in somewhat of a decline. As the drought has halted farming in many areas around the Murray-Darling basin, the work for many aerial ag operators has also dried up. This has meant dramatic reductions in cotton and rice farming which have traditionally relied on aerial agriculture.

“We rely a lot on our income in the Murray irrigation area . . . There’s been no rice planted over the last two seasons and that’s had a major effect on our business and other businesses that operate in that area,” says Peter Mackay, managing director of Ballarat based operator Field Air.

“We’ve cut our staff back and made all the changes you make in difficult times. ” The effects of the drought are reflected in the BITRE annual general aviation survey, which showed that between 2005 and 2006 (the latest figures available at the time of writing), the hours flown by aerial ag operators decreased by 35 per cent to 61,700.

The same survey also noted that drought was also one of the biggest contributors for aircraft which recorded nil operating time during 2006.

While the situation has been one of doom and gloom, there are some promising signs on the horizon. Heavy rain in Queensland and northern parts of New South Wales has raised hopes that it may carry on in other regions of New South Wales and Victoria. If there is a strong downpour this winter it could recharge the water stores there enough to at least allow for a crop of rice to be seeded in August.

Hurst says that the industry outlook is mostly positive, but this has only been where the rains have come. “If you’re in Queensland, it’s optimistic. Ifyou’re in northern New South Wales, its cautious optimism.

If you’re further south about Narrabrai or Gunnedah, I would say that people are still pretty dejected. ” While the drought has been a major challenge for the industry, it has not affected all areas, with farmers in Western Australia having not been hit as badly. Given that agriculture there is much more focused on the wheat and other grain crops, the operators based there have fared better than those in the eastern states.

As a result, some operators in WA such as Dunn Aviation, which is based in the Wheatbelt town of Ballidu, have been growing. Proprietor Neville Dunn says that his company has grown rapidly to accommodate the needs of farmers in the region.

“Ten years ago we only had two planes, now it’s 14,” he told AA.

As grains are winter crops, some eastern operators send aircraft to the west in the ‘off season’, and Dunn says that he often cross-hires aircraft in order to gain the maximum coverage around the southern regions of WA. Nevertheless, this extra work has not been sufficient to offset the effects of the drought.

“The nature of the industry is such that there is always work on in some part of Australia, and the big difference over the last two years is that hasn’t been the case,” says Hurst.

While chemical application is the core activity for most operators, it is by no means the least. A number of operators also use their aircraft and flying skills for other purposes, including aerial firefighting, pollution control and also pest control.

For many operators, these activities are integral parts of their businesses.

However, this sort of work, especially if done on behalf of government agencies, often requires specialist equipment such as emergency services radios to be fitted, which can significantly increase costs.

Many of these contracts are also putting a greater emphasis on the quality assurance and risk management systems of these operators. This is an issue which also has relevance for chemical application, and Hurst says the AAAA has been working on a program of quality assurance for a number of years.

“The original step was pretty much a pro-forma approach. Where we are now is after eight or nine years of developing that, we’re really getting to the stage now where each company has its own quality assurance system. ” Given that aerial agriculture has inherent risks, Hurst explains that quality assurance and risk management systems are generally already in place. “The margin for error is so narrow that even for an operator at the lower end of the industry, you still can’t go out and do that job and expect to survive without doing most of the things you are required to do for quality assurance anyway. ”

Firebombing

The importance of aerial firefighting has grown in recent years, and aerial ag aircraft involved in this role have helped save millions of dollars worth of property.

Aerial fire-fighting is now considered an integrated part of some operators’ activities, and some are now investing in specialised equipment to serve this function.

Aerial fire attack uses a number of skills similar to aerial agriculture – namely the operation of aircraft at low levels and dispersing applicant.

Most ag aircraft are also able to be used in firebombing operations with relatively little modification required.

In some cases, operators have even acquired specialist firebombing aircraft, such as the Air Tractor AT-802F.

Traditionally, firebombing was seen as an addition to spaying operations and was seen as an option to those businesses which had missed the fire and cotton season.

However, this is now changing to be a major focus for some companies.

“What we’ve seen with firebombing is really a maturation of the industry. It’s matured over the last 10 years and more so in the last five years,” says Hurst. “People who make a conscious business decision to get into firebombing are becoming real specialists, mostly driven by the demands from government agencies issuing contracts. ” Neville Dunn, whose business holds a major firebombing contract in WA, says that the growth of aerial firefighting has helped to stabilise the business rather than traditionally experiencing the peaks and troughs. This has helped in a number of ways. “Because we’ve got the year-round work now, we’re attracting better pilots. ” The addition of federal funding for aerial firebombing in 2006 has made a significant difference. In WA, Dunn Aviation has seen its firefighting fleet increase from two aircraft at a single base to eight operating from bases at Jandakot, Bunbury, Manjimup and Albany. This effectively covers most of the southwest of WA.

While most aircraft used by aerial ag operators are fixed wing firebombers, there has been some debate about the effectiveness of these aircraft over helicopters. After major bushfires on the eastern seaboard introduced the publicto the Erickson Aircrane helicopter (known more affectionately as ‘Elvis’), there has been a popular perception that helicopters are more effective in firefighting.

As a result, some of the focus of state governments with aerial firefighting has switched to using dedicated helicopter tankers, or helitacs, especially in built up areas.

Indeed, the majority of the funding made available to the National Aerial Firefighting Centre by the federal government has gone towards helicopter operations.

Nevertheless, operators such as Dunn believe that there is a major place for fixed-wing firebombing from agricultural aircraft in attacking fires on the urban fringe and in forest areas. As the fixed wing aircraft are cheaper to operate and in some cases can carry a larger load, Dunn believes that there will always be a place for them in aerial firefighting.

In the 30 years aerial ag operators have been involved in firebombing, Australian operators have become recognised as leaders in the field.

In many cases, Australian operators have been called on to provide aerial attack services in Indonesia, Italy and Portugal, as well as other areas. This has allowed Australian operators to keep their aircraft busy during downtimes and earn valuable revenue.

Regulation & Safety

Given that the day to day life of an ag pilot involves low level flying and also dealing with potentially hazardous chemicals, safety has been a major focus which the AAAA has been working on in recent years.

Although dealing with the flying regulatory issues takes up a lot of time, Hurst says that the biggest safety issues are about the handling of chemicals and other dangerous goods which aerial ag operators deal with on a daily basis. “The pilot isn’t just about piloting the aeroplane.

It’s about management of the chemical, control of drift and those other issues. ” As most operators are small teams with few staff other than pilots, keeping up with both flying and chemical regulations can be a challenge. The AAAA has therefore taken on a role of working with state and federal regulators to streamline the processes and make them as practical as possible for aerial ag operators.

One of the major successes of this approach has been the re-launch of its ‘Spraysafe’ accreditation program in 2001.

This is a system of training designed to make pilots more aware of the environmental and other impacts from aerial spraying, and equips them to lower the risk of chemicals drifting away from their intended targets. The program also covers aspects of safe flying operations during aerial application.

A key to the program is that Spraysafe is recognised in all states and territories as an approved course for gaining a Chemical Distribution Licence, which is essential for any pilot involved in aerial application.

While the pilots still have to resit the exam every three years, it streamlines the process significantly and has delivered real benefits to the industry.

The AAAA is still working to streamline this further and is pushing for a national chemical licensing scheme to eliminate the need for separate licences in each state.

As well as programs specific to the industry, the AAAA also has a professional pilots program which encourages agricultural pilots to add to their skills and understanding of safety. This may involve the pilot getting an additional rating, getting involved in flying training or undertaking tertiary study. Pilots involved in the program can gain an exemption for having to re-sit the Spraysafe exam.

“There’s a built-in encouragement in order to go out and be involved in further education,” says Hurst.

The aim of this program is to enhance the overall safety of the industry by making pilots more aware of safety issues in flying and keeping it at the top of their minds.

The AAAA has also worked closely with CASA to simplify the licensing process in what Hurst calls “cooperative regulation,” although he says it often involves a strong push for CASA to cooperate.

A major change which happened in 2007 in the regulatory arena was the adoption of a separate Part 137 regulation for aerial ag operations. According to Neville Dunn, this has been a major win for the industry as it has allowed them to focus more on operations, and less on compliance issues which do not directly affect agricultural operations.

One of most hotly debated issues both in and outside of the aerial ag industry is self administration. At the 2004 AAAA conference, CASA chief Bruce Byron issued a challenge to the industry to develop a proposal for self administration. He acknowledged the unique environment that most aerial ag operators work in and emphasised that the Authority would prefer to focus on ensuring safe passenger transport rather than aerial work.

Hurst says that the AAAA and CASA engaged on the issue of self administration over a number of years, but a workable model which satisfied both parties couldn’t be reached. The key sticking point was over how an aerial agriculture administration would be funded as CASA would not commit to funding it.

“There’s no economic model, given that CASA was not going to fund us or make available a means of raising funding through licensing or aircraft registration, that we can see would make this work for members,” says Hurst. “In other words, it’s not going to reduce costs, its going to increase costs. ” While the AAAA has left self administration until a workable funding model can be established, it continues to work closely with CASA on a number of issues to streamline the regulatory process for agricultural operators.

A key part of this was the adoption of a standard operations manual across the industry in 2002.

Hurst says that this has cut down the approval time for an air operator’s certificate dramatically. “We saw the time taken for the issuing of an AOC using our manual drop from 18 months down to eight weeks. With the [Part] 137 version of the manual, they are transitioning those operations to Part 137 compliance within two days. ” The AAAA and CASA also work closely on a number of safety issues related to low level flying. One particular problem for both helicopter and fixed wing agricultural operators is wirestrike.

According to CASA, 62 per cent of all wirestrikes occur while aircraft are involved in agricultural operations – a figure which the industry says is too high.

To that end, the AAAA has been working with a number of state utilities to establish cost effective wire markers for regions where aerial ag often works. The AAAA has also been working to change the marking standards to make wires more visible to ag pilots.

Pilots

Ag pilots have specialised skills in low-level flying and chemical application which are usually built up from experience over a number of seasons. But given the cyclical nature of agricultural flying, compounded by the drought, maintaining these skills in the long term is a concern for a number of operators.

Training an agricultural pilot is a long process. Pilots have to have a CPL before they can attend a CASA approved training school for an intensive agricultural flying and theory course. A pilot will then have to pass both practical and written tests before attaining an Agricultural 2 rating. After 1000 hours, these pilots may do a flying test to obtain an Agricultural 1 rating, which in most cases gives them the ability to fly larger turbine aircraft.

As well as their flying operations, agriculture pilots also have a large responsibility to ensure that the chemicals or fertilisers are being applied in a safe way.

Often this involves extensive liaison with the farmer who has requested the application as well as neighbours and local authorities, as well as meticulous flight planning.

This has brought about the introduction of some high tech equipment to manage the application. Today, a number of aircraft feature sophisticated dropping or spraying systems which can vary the size of individual droplets and give more precision in their application. In some cases, these are linked to a GPS and datalogging system which can allow for a high degree of accuracy.

As a result, today’s agricultural pilot has to know more about these systems and their aircraft than before. As Peter Mackay puts it, “They’re involved in what is very expensive and fairly technical sort of equipment. There’s some good application technology they have to stay up with. ” Typically, ag pilots have grown up in rural areas and are generally more interested in supporting the farming industry than becoming an airline pilot. “They’re hard working, they love the industry, they love the rural environment and they don’t want to grow up and be bus drivers in the sky,” says Mackay.

As the long drought has taken its toll on the industry, there is a major concern that a number of pilots who have been let go may not come back. “There’s been a lot of people who have moved out of the industry over the last few years, and you can’t blame them,” says Mackay.

“They haven’t got a steady income, from flying particularly, and the love of flying and the love of agriculture can only go so far. ” Mackay says that a number of pilots have moved into the booming mining industry and find that it offers more stable incomes throughout the year rather than in the short period when aerial agriculture is at its busiest.

Nevertheless, some operators who have a greater focus than agriculture are now able to offer more to their prospective pilots. Dunn says that with his dual agriculture and firebombing operation he is now able to offer a career option to ag pilots with nearly year-round employment.

“They do four months of fires, two months off, four months of ag and another two months off. ” Longer term though, there is major concern that if weather conditions return to normal there may not be enough pilots to meet the demand. “It takes a lot of rebuilding when things come back. There’s going to be a bit of a [pilot] shortage if things come back,” says Mackay.

Added to this will be the difficulty of managing the retirement of experienced pilots and those who choose to move out of the industry altogether.

“We haven’t got enough young blokes coming through,” says Neville Dunn.

“Because there’s been a drought-driven downturn, noone’s really been employing.

But as soon as the conditions change, people will have to start employing juniors again. ”

Equipment

As one of the biggest users of aerial agriculture, Australia is an important market for manufacturers and suppliers.

While most operators are now using imported aircraft, there have also been some local innovations in the field.

Broadly speaking, there has been a worldwide glut of agricultural aircraft, which has been driven by more efficient crops, new ways of applying chemicals and fertilisers and the greater move into the industry by helicopter operators (although the latter are not as competitive as fixed wing for most applications).

This has meant that while overall activity in aerial ag has been down for some years equipment has also come down in price. Coupled with the stronger Australian dollar, a number of operators have taken advantage of this to import aircraft to renew or supplement their fleets.

The turbine powered Air Tractor range is the most popular ag aircraft in Australia, with around 100 currently on the register. In particular the AT-502 and -502B, which is powered by a Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A turboprop, has made strong inroads in the local market. The larger AT-802 (max takeoff weight over seven tonnes), which is the biggest agricultural aircraft in production, has also found acceptance in Australia.

Field Air is the Australian dealer for Air Tractor aircraft, and Mackay says that the drought has made business challenging. “It’s had its moments. We’ve had below average sales over the last six years. ” “But we have seen a lot more capital going into fixed wing firebombing,” he says, noting that demand for types such as the AT-802 which are easily adapted for firebombing has been strong.

The PT6A or TPE331 powered Ayres S2R Thrush series (illustrated in the title pic on p62) is also popular with some operators.

On the local scene, Gippsland Aeronautics continues to offer the GA-200 Fatman piston engined aircraft, although the model has been out of production for a few years now. Nevertheless, John Willis from Gippsland Aeronautics told AA that the company has recently received interest in the type and that it is could soon re-start production if a firm order is placed.

The Fatman is a powered by a Lycoming O-540 flat six piston engine, has a hopper capacity of 800 litres and is able to seat two people sideby- side. The aircraft evolved from a number of modifications Gippsland Aeronautics developed for the Piper Pawnee. Gippsland decided to go ahead with the Fatman in 1992 and was able to achieve US FAA certification of the type in 1997.

The Fatman has been aimed at replacing earlier piston-powered Air Tractors, Cessna 188s and Piper Pawnees. The aircraft also has some attractions which see it slot beneath the larger turbine powered agricultural aircraft.

“The GA200 is excellent for small jobs, particularly in hill country where it’s manoeuvrability and short takeoff and landing ability and its low operating costs make it most cost effective and efficient,” says Willis.

The GA-200 and the later -200C were a modest sales success with over 60 sold, including a number for export.

Unfortunately, the type started to hit its stride at the time when there was a glut of American and European agricultural aircraft on the market, and so Gippsland Aeronautics has now chosen to focus on the successful GA-8 Airvan eight-seat utility aircraft.

Helicopters are also used in aerial application. They can be more expensive to operate than a fixed wing aircraft, but they do have the flexibility of not requiring an airstrip.

In Australia, rotary spraying operations most often involve Bell 47Gs or 206 JetRangers carrying specialist spraying equipment or fertiliser spreading buckets.

The Future

According to Hurst, as long as there is agriculture in Australia there will be a need for aerial agriculture, and in the longer term the industry is on a good footing, although it still faces some major challenges in the short term.

“Short term, I think, is cautious optimism and its all around the drought,” Hurst says of his outlook.

Peter Mackay says that overall the industry has always had a positive outlook, but sees keeping staff as the major issue. “We’ve got a very optimistic attitude about life and we’re ready to go, but staffing will be our biggest Achilles heel. ” The length of the drought has brought up the longer term issue of climate change.

With the recent drought one of the longest in many years, Hurst says that there is a need to understand if the weather patterns are changing permanently so that the wider agriculture industry can make the changes necessary to continue producing crops.

“Climate change puts a little bit of variability into the future but it’s not a doom and gloom sort of story. It’s about what we have to change to remain viable,” says Hurst.

Overall, there is a strong belief that even with the issues aerial agriculture faces, innovation in farming will continue to drive the need for the industry. It is this innovation and flexibilty that should see aerial ag continue to evolve to meet the challenging needs of Australia’s agricultural sector.