Aviation critical to agriculture

A ‘perfect storm’ of pest and disease pressure coupled with paddocks too wet to be treated from the ground has led to operators being inundated with work and struggling to keep up with demand.

The industry has rapidly entered a recovery and rebuilding phase following the drought, with experienced pilots being in short supply due to retirements, movement to the mining and other sectors and few new pilots entering the industry during the drought.

Without aerial application the damage to the nation’s economy would have been significant and the impact on local rural communities devastating. Aviation has again been absolutely critical in supporting the farming community’s recovery from drought and maintaining the viability of crops in adverse conditions.

Two emerging issues in agriculture are likely to underpin the ongoing value of aerial application – the need for more efficient water use and the importance of increasing yields.

As the fight over irrigation water heats up, the effective use of this resource means that aerial application will continue to play a role by delivering crop protection and nutrients exactly when they are needed. At application rates of up to 10 hectares per minute, aerial application is out on its own in terms of efficient use of time, taking advantage of often narrow windows of appropriate spraying conditions and the professionalism of the operators.

Ground application equipment tramples crops and reduces yields by damaging plants, especially during late season applications. What farmer would ignore the chance to increase yields by up to five percent simply by using smarter application techniques – such as aircraft?

Aerial application adds more value all the time – not just when paddocks are too wet for ground rigs.

With the return of high tempo operations AAAA has been developing new ways of putting safety messages in front of pilots on a regular basis by using text, email and fax messaging.

Twice a week over recent months pilot and operator members – most of the industry – have been receiving key safety messages covering everything from managing distractions and fatigue to assessing airstrips, safer turns, fighting complacency and keeping perspective. The feedback from pilots and operators has been very supportive and the number of printed-out messages on company noticeboards has been encouraging.

In the longer term, AAAA has almost finalised its latest safety training course, focussing on the ‘Big Three’ in agricultural aviation – wire strikes, turning accidents and take-off accidents. This course will be rolled out over the next 12 months to keep application pilots up-to-date with the latest research and some well established safety principles and personal actions.

AAAA has also made a submission to the Senate inquiry into pilot training and other matters, emphasising the difficulties faced by operators wanting to train new application pilots and the significant lag between an upturn in the industry and the availability of fully productive, experienced application pilots. A copy of the submission is available on the AAAA website at www.aerialag.com.au – ‘policy’.

While the need for a gradual and controlled build up of experience and exposure to risk in aerial application is an essential part of the development of a safe application pilot, there are a range of initiatives available to government – not just in aviation policy – to support, simplify and streamline the process to ensure Australia can produce enough pilots for aerial application.

The drought was a tough period for all aerial application operators, pilots and their families but Government should not be fooled into thinking that rain is the only improvement needed.

During this recent busy period it came to AAAA’s attention that in Victoria, no helicopter was allowed to land on agriculturally-zoned land without a permit from the local Council – of course at a fee and significant time delay. AAAA pointed out the implications of this to the Victorian Planning Minister and explained that helicopters would play a critical role in controlling the locust plague. AAAA indicated that helicopters might land in several local government areas in a single day and be required to land in many different areas to assess locust development.

To his credit, the Victorian Planning Minister, Justin Madden, acted very quickly and amended the State Planning Scheme to provide an exemption to the permit requirement for all agricultural, emergency and rescue operations.

The impediments placed in the way of legitimate aviation operations that provide a valuable and often critical service to the community never ceases to amaze. And what a great example of the value of supporting an industry association that consistently fights for aviation rights.