In January, General Aviation News published “Five things you don’t know about crop dusters” based on reporter William E. Dubois’ visit to the 2022 Ag Aviation Expo to not just learn more about the industry but truly understand it. Dubois’ story gets to the heart of the importance and technological nature of the aerial application industry.

Aspects the article sheds light on include:

• Why the term “crop duster” is less fashionable within the industry than aerial applicators or ag pilots.
• The high cost of today’s state-of-the-art ag planes, such as Air Tractor’s AT-502B and Thrush Aircraft’s new 510-P2 displayed at the 2022 NAAA Trade Show.
• The continuing education requirements ag pilots must fulfill to renew their state commercial applicator licenses.
• The on-the-ground training typically required before new ag pilots can earn their first “seat.”
• How ag pilots protect the world’s food supply by seeding, fertilizing and treating crops with products to protect crops from “30,000 species of weeds, 3,000 species of nematodes (worms), and a whopping 10,000 species of plant-eating insects” they have to “compete” with.