Fernandes de Souza with the Brazilian Ministry of Agriculture (right) visited Jeff Chorman at his aerial application operation in Milton, Delaware.
Last week NAAA and Delaware aerial applicator Jeff Chorman were treated to a solid introduction to Brazilian aerial application when Lucas Fernandes de Souza with the Brazilian Ministry of Agriculture visited the nation’s capital. De Souza traveled to the U.S. to learn more about the U.S. aerial application industry as well as educate about Brazilian ag aviation. De Souza works in a division within Brazil’s Agriculture Ministry that specifically deals with aerial application. The country is currently trying to modernize its regulations dealing with aerial application, and de Souza was on a fact-finding mission to learn more about the U.S. ag aviation industry’s government regulations.
NAAA CEO Andrew Moore met with de Souza at NAAA’s headquarters in Alexandria, Virginia.
De Souza visited Jeff Chorman at Allen Chorman & Son Inc. at their operation in Milton, Delaware, and then visited NAAA headquarters in Alexandria, Virginia. Brazilian regulations require a human observer to be in the application field to relay field conditions to the ag pilot. NAAA informed de Souza that ag aircraft in the U.S. are equipped with either smokers or meteorological measurement technology, such as AIIMS, to provide the pilot information about wind direction, movement, etc., in lieu of requiring a human observer in the field. Brazilian aerial application operations must submit monthly reports to the Brazilian Ag Ministry documenting the type of aircraft they used, the crops and type of pesticides used, and total acreage and acreage location, whereas U.S. operations only need to keep such records on file at their operations’ headquarters. Brazilian operators must also have containment pools equaling the capacity of all of their aircraft’s hoppers to contain the water from their washed aircraft. The pools are typically enclosed to allow the water to evaporate more expeditiously.
