CASA’s struggle to survive

Life wasn’t meant to be easy, but sometimes you wonder if it was meant to be so hard!

The ongoing drought in Queensland continues to dominate the thoughts of almost all aerial applicators in that state. Drought survival strategies are in full swing including laying off staff, deferring purchases, changing insurance status on aircraft to ground risk only and cutting costs as hard as possible. All in the knowledge that when the drought ends, aerial application services will likely be in demand and the company will have to rebuild – quickly.

In NSW, ongoing uncertainty over water allocations has again played on farmers’ minds in both the cotton and rice irrigation areas. Reduced plantings and changing crop patterns are challenging trends for aerial applicators.