During a statewide agricultural tour throughout Arkansas, Sen. John Boozman stopped at former Arkansas Agricultural Aviation Association (AAAA) president Tommy Anderson’s operation in Sherrill, Ark., to take his first ride in an ag aircraft. The senator was joined by U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission Chairman Christopher Giancarlo.

Sen. Boozman, Chairman Giancarlo and other staff members took their first rides in ag aircraft to better appreciate the skill and precision needed to make aerial applications. The aircraft were piloted by Tommy Anderson of Tommy’s Flying Service and Michael Hutchins of Custom Air Inc.

Sen. Boozman flying with Michael Hutchins of Custom Air, Inc.

During the visit, several members of the AAAA board were on hand, including President Doug Gibson, David Strohl, Cole Hartley, Brenda Watts and Mark Hartz. AAAA members, joined by Andrew Moore and Frank Taylor with NAAA, took the opportunity to explain to Sen. Boozman and Chairman Giancarlo the issues affecting aerial applicators and the best way to address them in the 2018 Farm Bill. The two main topics were eliminating the need for the costly and redundant National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Pesticide General Permits (PGP) for products already registered under the Federal Insecticide Fungicide and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) and clarifying that the only regulators of crop protection products are states and the federal government, as a way of preventing local towns and counties from banning lawfully registered products.

Sen. Boozman and Chairman Giancarlo discuss ag issues with members of the AAAA.

Other stops on Sen. Boozman’s statewide tour included the Don Tyson Center for Agriculture Sciences in Fayetteville, an Angus cattle ranch in Lavaca, a peach orchard in Lamar, and the University of Arkansas Rice Research and Extension Center in Stuttgart.

Tommy Anderson of Tommy's Flying Service speaks with Sen. Boozman and Chairman Giancarlo.