Last week NAAA submitted a letter to EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler. The purpose of the letter was to urge the EPA to promptly evaluate UAS’ ability to make safe and precise and efficacious applications of pesticides, similarly to how other forms of application—ground, air-blast and single rotor and single propellered manned aircraft—were evaluated and tested in each pesticide active ingredient evaluation. UAS, in some instances, are now being used for making small-scale aerial applications, yet without being tested and modeled to determine drift potential. Read More

A fixed-wing drone manufacturer has received a sizable capital investment to help fund its efforts to bring an unmanned electric airplane designed for agricultural spray operations to market. Pyka, an unmanned electric airplane design, development and services company in Oakland, California, received $11 million in venture capital funding, DroneDJ reports. Read More

Last Friday NAAA submitted nine comments to the EPA for the agency’s re-registration review of pesticide active ingredients. The EPA is required by FIFRA to review the registrations for all crop protection products every 15 years to ensure dietary, water, environmental, occupational and endangered/threatened species safety. The active ingredients that NAAA commented on were for the following products: Boscalid, Fenpyroximate, Flonicamid, Mandipropamid, Metolachlor/S-Metolachlor, Myclobutanil, Propanil, Terbacil, and Triclopyr. Read More

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Have you moved or changed employers since you renewed your 2020 NAAA membership? Allied companies, have you reviewed your company description lately? Ensure your listing in the 2020 NAAA Membership Directory is correct today by logging into your account. If any information has changed, please let us know right away. Read More

The National Agricultural Aviation Hall of Fame (NAAHOF) Nomination Board has changed its procedure for evaluating candidates for induction into the NAA Hall of Fame. Under the policy change, the Nominations Board will consider individuals one year before their induction to allow more time to deliberate on NAAHOF nominees’ credentials. NAAHOF has updated its nomination form accordingly and is accepting nominations for people who would be inducted in 2021. Nominations to be considered for induction into NAAHOF in 2021 are by due Sept. 1, 2020. Read More

In January 2019, three Colorado aerial applicators made the bold decision to fight alleged drift cases brought against them, knowing the claims had no basis in fact or science. After over a year of litigation, a final court order was issued Wednesday clearing the applicators of all wrongdoing.  Read More

We look forward to seeing you Feb. 13‒15 at the NAAA and NAAREF Board Meetings. All meetings are open to NAAA members. The Westin Alexandria will host our February board meetings. The Westin Alexandria is a three-block walk from the King Street Metro stop (take either Blue or Yellow Line), which is the second stop south of Ronald Reagan National Airport (DCA). Read More

From an in-depth look at NAAA’s aerial application census results to a roundtable discussion about wire strikes to lessons from the 2018‒19 PAASS Program, here are the top 10 digital articles from Agricultural Aviation’s 2019 issues based on the most viewed articles at AgAviationMagazine.org and the Agricultural Aviation Magazine App in 2019.If you haven’t installed the free Agricultural Aviation Magazine App on your smartphone or tablet, you are missing out on a great way to tap into a library’s worth of Agricultural Aviation issues in the palm of your hand. Download the Agricultural Aviation Magazine App and see how easy and enjoyable it is to use. Read More

In addition to the normal committee meetings and planning sessions that take place at NAAA Board of Directors Meetings, the spring board meeting is held every year in the Washington, D.C., area, giving attendees an opportunity to speak directly with their legislators and national policymakers. Additionally, NAAA also hosts an annual fundraising breakfast for the NAAA AgAv PAC. Get the most of out of your visit to Washington, D.C., by taking advantage of both these opportunities! Read More

The latest issue of Agricultural Aviation magazine is now online in two different formats: a Replica format for desktop reading and a Mobile-optimized format for easy reading on your phone. This first issue of the new decade includes a message from 2020 NAAA Darin Pluhar, 2020 NAAA officer profiles, a recap of the 2019 ag aviation economy, a summary of the 2019 Ag Aviation Expo in Orlando, Profiles of NAAA award winners, and much more! Read More

The 2019-2020 PAAAS Program is ready to help you and the agricultural aviation industry improve safety, application accuracy and professionalism. Four modules will be given at state and regional agricultural aviation association meetings this fall and winter. Check the NAAA calendar and make sure you plan on attending. Read More