Ag Aviation Industry Still Soaring

aerial, AgWired Precision, NAAA

The latest industry survey from the National Agricultural Aviation Association (NAAA) finds that aerial application is as important to modern agriculture as ever, and the industry’s footprint is expanding. From 2012 when NAAA’s last industry survey was released to 2019, consider these growth factors: • The number of agricultural aviation operations has grown 16% since 2012. • Along with more … Read More

BASF and NAAA Award Aviator Scholarships

Lizzy SchultzAerial Application, Ag Group, Award, BASF, NAAA

BASF and the National Agricultural Aviation Association (NAAA) have collaborated to reward two promising aviators with scholarships to assist them as they follow their passion in the field of aerial application. Matthew Burkhammer of Carlisle, Arkansas, and Landunn Koyle of Gooding, Idaho, were awarded NAAA/BASF Agricultural Aviation Scholarships of $2,500 and $5,000, respectively. The two winners were recognized at the … Read More

UAV Safety Campaign Announced by NAAA

Kelly MarshallAgribusiness, drone, NAAA, Safety, UAS, UAV

The National Agricultural Aviation Association (NAAA) is  begining a UAV safety campaign aimed at the agriculture community.  The goal of the campaign is to raise awareness and prevent accidents between UAV operators and low-altitude manned aircraft.  The first step of the campaign was to create a UAV “safety stuffer,” a double-sided insert that illustrates safety concerns of pilots about hard-to-see UAVs.  The … Read More

BASF/NAAA Partnership Supports Future of Ag Pilots

Jamie JohansenAg Group, Agribusiness, BASF, Education, NAAA

Three up-and-coming agricultural pilots were awarded scholarships sponsored by BASF and the National Agricultural Aviation Association (NAAA) to help them turn their dreams of becoming professional agricultural pilots into reality. Kole Pederson of Crookston, MN; Richard Conrad of Kiel, WI and Heidi Stoeppler of Bakersfield, CA were awarded the NAAA/BASF Agricultural Aviation Scholarships of $5,000, $2,500 and $1,000 during the … Read More

Hemisphere GPS Talking to Aerial Applicators

Chuck ZimmermanAerial Application, Aerial Imagery, Agribusiness, NAAA

I had my first opportunity to learn about Hemisphere GPS during the National Agricultural Aviation Association convention when I spoke with Greg Guyette, General Manager, Air & Imagery Business. Greg says that their systems are “moving to data management, data movement, real time systems.” It’s becoming all about being able to immediately move a file or access a file to … Read More

Precision Laboratories Talks Volare DC with Aerial Applicators

Chuck ZimmermanAerial Application, Agribusiness, Audio, NAAA, Precision Labs

Here’s the Precision Laboratories team during the recent National Agricultural Aviation Association convention. On the far left is Jim Reiss, vice president of agricultural chemistries. We talked about what the company offers aerial applicators. He focused on Volare DC™, a recently launched adjuvant technology. Here’s a description from their website. Volare DC, briefly known as Avianis DC, delivers improved drift … Read More

AgSync Helping with Logistics

Chuck ZimmermanAerial Application, Agribusiness, Audio, NAAA

During last week’s National Agricultural Aviation Association convention I met Clay Rassi, AgSync. We’ve visited with AgSync at the NAAA convention for the last several years. It’s always nice to find out what’s new. Clay says this year AgSync is focused on letting ag aviators better communicate with the office using real time order processing without having to be distracted … Read More

Ag Aviators Meeting in Georgia

Chuck ZimmermanAerial Application, Ag Group, NAAA

The 2012 National Agricultural Aviation Association convention and trade show is underway in Savannah, GA. I’m here covering the meeting on AgWired.com. However, I’ll be getting some great interviews to share with you here as well. Let’s start with this one. Here’s Andrew Moore (left), Executive Director, NAAA and the opening breakfast keynote speaker Story Musgrave. Story’s story was filled … Read More

Syngenta Talks QuiltXcel With Aerial Applicators

Chuck ZimmermanAerial Application, Audio, NAAA

Jason Beissenherz, Syngenta, (not pictured) brought me up to date on the latest from Syngenta during the recent National Agricultural Aviation Association convention. Jason works out of Grand Island, NE with a focus on the Syngenta fungicide lineup. He says they’re talking about their new QuiltXcel launch. It was in limited release last year and went into full release this … Read More

New Herbicides From Dupont

Chuck ZimmermanAerial Application, Audio, NAAA

During the recent National Agricultural Aviation Association convention I learned what’s new with Dupont. I spoke with Craig Alford (pictured center) who told me the aerial applicators are very interested in their new Pastora herbicide for Bermudagrass pasture weed control. They also have several other non crop herbicides in the works too. You can listen to my interview with Craig … Read More