Last week the NAAA Board posse returned to Fort Worth, Texas, for its spring board meeting to conduct substantive business to strengthen the aerial application industry. The 2021 fall NAAA board meeting was also held in Fort Worth and returned last week because there were fewer COVID restrictions in the Lone Star State than in other locations.

Yippee-iii-EPA

Top brass from the EPA’s Office of Pesticide Programs addressed NAAA’s board and committee members via Zoom at the spring board meeting’s opening session.

Director of the EPA’s Office of Pesticide Programs (OPP), Ed Messina, and branch chief of OPP’s Environmental Risk Branch of the Environmental Fate and Effects Division, Amy Blankinship, spoke to NAAA’s board virtually to start the meeting. OPP regulates the manufacture and use of all pesticides in the U.S. for safety, including determining if pesticides may be used via aerial application. Messina discussed the EPA’s charge of reviewing the safety of all pesticides every 15 years to ensure their safety to people and the environment. He also brought up a new EPA policy stemming from the Biden administration to prevent litigation by ensuring that new pesticide products meet Endangered Species Act requirements before they may be registered for use. There are presently 13 pending lawsuits regarding 40 active ingredients that the EPA is facing pertaining to endangered species concerns. Messina mentioned that they have completed over 5,000 registration reviews during this 15-year cycle. The OPP’s 600 total staffers have also been busy this past year approving 14 new pesticide applications, reviewing over 11,000 comments pertaining to registrations, and addressing 100 congressional inquiries. 

Blankinship discussed several different entities looking into the safety and efficacy of drone applications—an issue NAAA has brought up to the agency for a few years due to drones not yet being tested compared to manned aircraft. Blankinship stated that the American Chemical Society, North America Remotely Piloted Aerial Application Systems, CropLife America’s Pesticide Registrant Task Force and the EPA’s PPDC Emerging Technology Task Force, of which NAAA Wisconsin board member Damon Reabe sits on, have all been looking into testing drones’ application systems, but no comprehensive testing data has emerged yet. Blankinship also mentioned the multi-year discussions NAAA and the EPA-OPP have had focused on shifting from Tier 1 to Tier 3 of the AgDRIFT model that calculates off-target aerial drift. Tier 3 considers more realistic atmospheric and drift reduction technology equipped on-board the ag aircraft today, compared to the Tier 1 model that grossly overestimates movement of the applied materials. The EPA stated they continue to have internal discussions within the agency on NAAA’s request and data backing up the recommendations.

Lowdown on the State of the Industry

President Jim Perrin presides over NAAA’s board meeting in Fort Worth.

2022 NAAA President Jim Perrin called the meeting to order after the EPA’s presentation welcoming the new board members and graciously invited them to share their thoughts during the two days of business. Andrew Moore, NAAA CEO, presented an overview of industry and association issues, beginning with sharing positive forecasts for the 2022 U.S. agricultural economy. The USDA forecasts a record $175.5 billion in 2022 U.S. ag exports—resulting in a $10.5 billion surplus when considering ag imports coming into the U.S. The 2021 U.S. ag export surplus was $8 billion. Two variables Moore brought forward that could result in an even larger ag trade surplus in 2022 include China and its 2020 Phase 1 trade agreement with China committing to purchase $73.9 billion of U.S. ag products over two years. To date, it has only purchased $61.1 billion—only 83% of the target level. The second variable is tensions in the Black Sea region between Ukraine and Russia—a global source of wheat. Bellicose actions in that region may disrupt their ag markets, result in rising grain prices and reliance on other grain-producing nations such as the U.S.

Moore then discussed policy issues, repeating the EPA’s charge of reregistering pesticides every 15 years and NAAA’s involvement in retaining label language allowing aerial use without unnecessarily burdensome restrictions. Through 2025 it will be reviewing 297 pesticides, including 2,4-D, imidacloprid, malathion, pyrethrin, etc. Moore also discussed Biden administration environmental initiatives, including a USDA Commodity Credit Corporation program calling for $1 billion for farmers sequestering carbon (includes funds for applying cover crops). The EPA has stated that agriculture contributes 10% of the U.S.’s overall carbon emissions. NAAA has submitted calculated data that ag aviation protects 27.4 million acres of land from being converted into farmland every year and that cover crops seeded by air sequester 1.9 million metric tons of carbon dioxide annually, the equivalent of 412,000 carbon combustion car engines, and that increasing cover crop acreage by 15% would sequester another 11.9 million metric tons of carbon dioxide annually

Also discussed was the Biden administration’s rewrite of how waters of the U.S. (WOTUS) are defined under the Clean Water Act. This is the third attempted redefinition of WOTUS in six years. The Biden administration’s attempt nearly mirrors the Obama administration’s 2015 attempt that didn’t survive court scrutiny. It defines WOTUS to include ephemeral or temporary waters with no nexus to navigable waters. NAAA has commented to the EPA opposing the rule due to it expanding the number of waters that trigger obtaining a pesticide general permit under the Clean Water Act—an unnecessary, duplicative requirement since pesticides are already reviewed for safety under FIFRA; and due to the U.S. Supreme Court agreeing to hear a case involving the definition of WOTUS in 2023.

Moore stated that polls indicate a possible Republican takeover of both the House of Representatives and Senate after midterm elections are held in November. This could result in Sen. John Boozman (R-Ark.) taking over the chair of the Senate Ag Committee in the year—2023—the farm bill must be reauthorized. NAAA will urge that regulatory provisions, including NPDES-PGP requirements, be eliminated.

Moore also mentioned how election results could move Rep. Sam Graves (R-Mo.) into the chair of the House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee. Graves championed enacted legislation in 2018 requiring the marking and logging of towers in rural areas 50-200 feet in height and 10 feet or less in diameter, with communication towers only having to abide by one of the requirements. In 2023, FAA Reauthorization expires. This provides another opportunity for NAAA to bring communications towers under both logging and marking requirements. FAA is currently working on developing rules to enforce the law. NAAA is working with Rep. Graves to hasten the process.

An additional aviation safety concern raised by Moore relates to proposed regulatory requirements from an FAA aviation rulemaking committee (ARC) that would allow commercial drones to operate under 400 feet, beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS), weigh up to 1,320 pounds (LSA weight) and be exempted from granting right-of-way to manned aircraft when operating within 100 feet of towers and wires and manned aircraft not equipped with ADS-B In, and having the unmanned aircraft certified for airworthiness. NAAA has been in contact with members of the ARC opposing these proposals due to these provisions raising serious manned aircraft pilot safety concerns.

Moore discussed communications initiatives next, including the continued 100th anniversary of agricultural aviation, which runs until August. NAAA will be participating in Ag Day on the Mall, March 21-22, 2022, where dozens of national ag groups will put their wares on the Washington, D.C., National Mall to promote precision agriculture. NAAA will have a booth and an OH-58 Bell helicopter on display with spray boom and bucket along with its 100th anniversary history panels. Glenn Martin of Helicopter Applicators Inc. in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, is loaning the helicopter for display. The event will be seen by tens of thousands of people, including key federal legislators and regulators.

NAAA will conclude its 100th anniversary celebration at EAA’s AirVenture in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, again participating in its airshow demonstrating an aerial application ballet to its tens of thousands of spectators as the air boss narrates the importance of the industry.

Moore charged the board with continuing to use the 100th to promote the industry as there are still 4½ months remaining. More information on celebrating and promoting the industry’s 100th anniversary can be found at AgAviation100.com. He also urged the purchase of the 100th anniversary history book, which has sold 665 copies to date. Books can be purchased at AgAviation.org/book.

Moore also stated that the 100th anniversary campaign, according to Agility PR Solutions, a media monitoring service, reached 400 million people based on the total circulation of the news outlets reached—an ad value equivalency of $10 million. Due to the success and need to reach the public and educate them about modern agricultural production, NAAA will conduct a communications audit next month polling its members and audience about what their desired focus of association communications should be—internal communications or positive public relations; the mediums of communication preferred—print, online, social media, podcasts, etc.—and what content is most preferred—aviation safety, application stewardship and efficacy, human interest stories, etc.

NAAA will also continue to run its “Above All Forms of Crop Care” ads in ag publications this spring. The ad campaign promotes the benefits of aerial application and leads those interested in using the service to NAAA’s website where they can search for NAAA operator members that aerially apply near them. The campaign will be advertised for six weeks in AgWeb’s eNewsletter with a national circulation of 201,000 farmers nationwide and CropLIfe’s eNewsletter with a national of 20,500 retailers, cooperatives, crop consultants, universities and extension agents. The NAAA campaign won a National Agricultural Marketing Association Award in 2019 and has markedly increased click-throughs to NAAA’s aerial applicator operator search function when the ad campaigns are run.

Education and safety issues were then discussed, primarily about work that has been conducted on developing a professional certification program for the aerial application industry. At present, the plan is to make the program available to ag pilots starting in 2023 that would initially require annual attendance in PAASS, biennial attendance in Operation S.A.F.E., and membership in both the national and a state/regional agricultural aviation association. Additional requirements will be forthcoming in 2024, including a comprehensive ag airman certification standard (AACS) that NAAA and NAAREF have developed over several years and is being fine-tuned presently by an aviation attorney. Curriculum will then be developed from the AACS and presented via online learning through learning management software NAAA is exploring. Once installed, the curriculum will be offered and test questions developed to ensure the ag pilot understands the material.

Moore then discussed ag aviation accidents, stating that there were 55 accidents in 2021 and 12 fatalities. He also stated that 2020 data from the FAA General Aviation Activity Survey had just been released showing that there were 6.11 accidents per 100,000 hours flown in 2020, which lowered the number of accidents per 100,000 flown to 7.15, or by 25.81%, since PAASS was introduced after the 1998 application season. He also mentioned that only 47% of ag pilots attend PAASS and that statistics show that PAASS attendees are less likely to have accidents, particularly the more one consistently attends PAASS. That underscores the importance of a professional certification program for the industry that augments continuing education opportunities to solidify professional aerial application habits.

The success of the 2021 NAAA Ag Aviation Expo was discussed. There was a total of 1,540 in attendance compared with the COVID-19 truncated convention in 2020, which had 790 in attendance. Plans are underway for the 2022 Ag Aviation Expo, Dec. 5-8 in Knoxville, Tennessee, with Astronaut Scott Kelly locked in for the Kickoff Breakfast. Kelly has spent a total of 520 days in space—more than any other American. One of those vertical jaunts includes leading the Hubble telescope repair in 1999. The general session will be titled “Healthy Public Relations” with agvocate Michelle Miller, also known as the Farm Babe, providing valuable PR lessons for us to agvocate for aerial application. Returning to the general session will be Dr. Stan Musick, Flight Surgeon, AME, aerobatics pilot and aerial applicator that will discuss pilot medical issues, medical certificate procedures and good health. Starting in 2023, the Ag Aviation Expo will be held at the following locations: Palm Springs, California (2023); Fort Worth, Texas (2024); Reno, Nevada (2025); and Savannah, Georgia (2026).

Membership totals were discussed next, with NAAA ending 2021 with a total of 1,781 members—84 more than 2020 but 33 fewer in the operator category. There are 1,560 total operators in the country and 2,028 non-operator ag pilots.

Moore concluded with forecasts stating that inflation could be a burr under the saddle of the 2022 season due to fertilizer costs being high, particularly nitrogen, which accounts for 50% of corn fertilizer costs. Recent statistics show that fertilizer costs are projected to be up 80% in 2022 compared to 2021. On a per-commodity basis, fertilizers account for $117 per acre of corn, or 36% of operating costs—the highest cost of all commodities—with rice at second and peanuts and cotton tied for third. Soybeans have lower fertilizer costs at $31 per acre, so it is expected more soybean acreage will be grown this year.

The good and bad news is that population projections are growing. The downside of that is that the more people, the greater demand, and as the demand variable rises so does price, so crop input prices may be on an upward trajectory with more population demand. The good news is that with the global population rising, more souls will demand the food, fiber and biofuel the aerial application industry helps produce, and today there are 7.9 billion earthly souls to feed, with 9.7 billion projected in 2050 and 10.9 billion projected in 2100.

After that lowdown on industry-related happenings, President Perrin adjourned the meeting for the committees to round up some substantive direction to take the aerial application industry.

Roundup of NAAA-NAAREF Industry Initiatives

Awards—The Awards Committee suggested, and the board approved a motion to rename the Related Industry Award to the Richard “Dick” Reade Memorial Award. The award recognizes outstanding contributions by an allied industry member and his company. The committee also urged all members to provide nominations for those deserving of an award due to exemplarily serving the industry. Forms and award details may be found at AgAviation.org/onlineawardsform and AgAviation.org/awards.

Budget and Finance—The board approved a 2022-2023 fiscal year budget presented by Dwayne O’Brien, former treasurer from Louisiana, which begins July 1, that has a projected deficit of $50,679. This includes $35,000 for learning management software to host educational content for a professional ag pilot certification and a depreciation expense of $42,000, which is a paper, not a real expense. This is a significantly reduced deficit than what was projected this current fiscal year ($114,618), and with sound financial assets and more than surviving in the COVID quarantine era, the association is in quite good shape fiscally.

Communications—The Communications Committee urged the board and all industry members to purchase copies of Agriculture’s Air Force, the history book of the industry, and to share it locally by donating them to libraries and schools in their area. The book can be found at AgAviation.org/book. The committee also spoke at length about the upcoming survey being developed for industry members to glean updated information about who NAAA’s focused audience should be in regard to the lion’s share of communications resources and also what is the best medium to communicate and the most important topics in which to communicate. The Communications Committee, along with a subcommittee of the Long Range Planning Committee, will be reviewing a draft list of questions before the survey is sent.

Convention—The Convention Committee discussed the 2021 Ag Aviation Expo in Savannah and the post-convention survey, which was very positive about the event. More will be done to ensure auction bidders can better hear and see the auction items up for bid. Heartfelt thanks were expressed to the auction donators, particularly Pratt & Whitney Canada for its PT6A-34 turbine engine donation and Darrel and Deb Mertens’ and Boyd Morgan’s donations of Ag-Cat aircraft. There were 1,540 attendees and exhibitors and 142 paying exhibitors in Savannah.

The 2022 Ag Aviation Expo will take place in Knoxville, Tennessee, Dec. 5-8, 2022, with five different hotels in different price points around different areas of downtown Knoxville, all within four blocks of the convention center. The room block links will be released to members in the next couple of weeks. For more on the convention, visit AgAviation.org/convention.

Government Relations—Chairman Damon Reabe of Wisconsin discussed upcoming meetings to be held soon between NAAA and two major pesticide manufacturers. These meetings are part of NAAA ensuring aerial labeling is pursued when these companies submit (re)registration data to the EPA for approval of pesticides’ use.

Reabe also urged and many committee members echoed the importance of operators providing their GPS data to Mississippi State University’s (MSU) Raspet Flight Research Laboratory for its continuing research study on safe operational distances between low-altitude, manned aircraft and drones. MSU Raspet is now beginning the second stage of GPS flight log data collection from manned agricultural aircraft. The industry donated GPS flight log data during the first stage of data collection from 2017 to 2020. The second stage of data collection needs to capture aircraft make and model info (not the N number or other personally identifying information) and GPS system make and model info in addition to the GPS flight logs. These additional details will make the research more useful, as the airspace modeling will be impacted by different aircraft, such as fixed-wing versus helicopter operations. All data submitted will be wiped of any personal identification information. The overall objectives of the research are to:

1. Identify Ag Aircraft Operational Trends
2. Develop Ag Aircraft Operational Models
3. Validate Model through Observation/Collection of Empirical Data
4. Inform/Educate UAS operators
5. Promote Safety in all Low-Altitude Ag Environments
   

To upload to the NAAA Ag Data Repository, use the following website, username and password (1 GB file limit per upload):

• https://www.hpc.msstate.edu/raspet-naaa/
• Username: raspet-naaa
• Password: Ag2!naaArePo
  

To upload large uploads to a secure Dropbox link, send a request to Madison Dixon, MSU Aviation Program Manager, at mpd162@msstate.edu.

To email your data, send it directly to Madison Dixon, MSU Aviation Program Manager, at mpd162@msstate.edu.

Or simply mail a flash drive or other external hard drive device to the address below (the flash drive will be immediately mailed back to the sender once data is received):

Attn: Madison Dixon
MSU Raspet Flight Lab
114 Airport Road
Starkville, MS 39759

Long Range Planning—The committee discussed the value of a professional certification program to help the industry embrace such a program designed to enhance professionalism which, in turn, mitigates accidents and drift incidents. Thoughts shared, in addition to benefits allied members (insurance, chemical companies, etc.) might offer, included markedly aiding in marketing one’s company to farmers and regulators would be less likely to promulgate burdensome industry regulations.

The committee is also looking into expanding leadership training to more prospective leaders in the industry throughout the country since current sponsorship levels of leadership training have been considerably reduced in recent years.

Membership—The Committee discussed ideas for an upcoming video ad NAAA is developing to promote membership. The promotional video will be shown at the PAASS Program presentations and posted online via social media pages related to agricultural aviation. The committee also deservingly awarded an honorary lifetime NAAA membership to Scott Yackel, a pilot who works for Chatham County, Georgia, and has helped immensely over the years with the aircraft move at Savannah during the convention. The board approved Yackel’s honorary membership.

Museum—The Museum Committee discussed the Snow S2A aircraft. The airplane’s engine is currently under repair in Mississippi and may be displayed and flown at EAA AirVenture in July before it is permanently put on display at the National Agricultural Aviation Museum in Jackson, Mississippi. In addition, the board approved a motion for NAAA to donate $5,000 per year to the museum.

Precision Agriculture—The committee discussed work that is underway to integrate multiple precision ag technologies together to enhance application automation on manned agricultural aircraft. It also discussed see and spray technologies that are being developed for terrestrial applications that may make their way to ag aircraft before too long. Efficacy and drift testing for drones were also discussed, with the USDA-ARS Aerial Application Technology Unit representative stating that they are trying to facilitate unmanned aircraft service providers to participate in Operation S.A.F.E. clinics. It was mentioned that a task force of pesticide manufacturers—the Unmanned Aerial Pesticide Application Task Force—is being developed to conduct drone application tests along similar lines as the Spray Drift Task Force testing manned aircraft back in the 1990s on drift movement and efficacy.

Safety & Federal Air Regulations—The committee is partnering with Balmoral Engineering to promote its wire marking equipment to power companies. A presentation is in development to promote to rural electric cooperatives.

Support—The Support Committee announced that its 2022-2023 Athena Program content would be about balancing home life with work life. It will be part of the Support programming at the convention in Knoxville, in addition to a luncheon at the Sunsphere—the golden tower overlooking the city that was constructed as part of the 1982 World’s Fair. Mention was made by Chairwoman Jane Pitlick of South Dakota that a number of states have offered CEU units for Athena Program attendance. In addition, Pitlick mentioned that the essay topic for the 2022 Support scholarship is “What role does ag aviation play in producing a local commodity?” Scholarship information may be found at AgAviation.org/supportscholarshipcontest.

National Agricultural Aviation Research & Education Foundation— NAAREF President Matt Hovdenes reported that CFIT will be the focus for the 2022-2023 PAASS program. NAAREF meetings largely discussed the professional certification program. To that point, it was stated that past PAASS modules would be matched to the AACS, selected and updated for use on the learning management software as part of the certification program.

Hovdenes and staff will also attend a wire aviation safety course offered as part of the HAI Heli-Expo next month to determine its worth as content at the Ag Aviation Expo on Sunday and Monday in Knoxville for an additional fee. Wires are the main cause of ag aviation accidents.

NAAREF President Matt Hovdenes accepts a $3,000 donation from Tom May, who presented it on behalf of the Nebraska Aviation Trades Association.

State Reports—NAAA President Perrin then opened the floor for state reports. Tom May of Nebraska graciously presented NAAREF President Hovdenes with a $3,000 check for the foundation (pictured above).

Erin Morse of Washington spoke of a bill in that state that markedly increases buffers around riparian habitat. The bill was defeated but likely will resurface down the road. The Washington association has worked closely with their state’s DOT to show how aerial application provides billions of dollars of value to the state. This information will likely be helpful the next time such deleterious legislation toward the industry resurfaces.