Watch Michael Cruce, the president of the Illinois Agricultural Aviation Association, discuss the benefits of aerial fungicide spraying and how aerial application in general improves crop yields for farmers in a new Syngenta video titled, “Fungicides Flying High: The Speed and Precision of Aerial Application.”
Cruce operates Cruce Agricultural Aviation in Marquette Heights, Illinois. As he explains in the video, “We have a short window, especially in the Midwest, to apply these fungicides, and the airplanes, we can cover a lot of ground in a short amount of time. So, the timing of the applications is critical sometimes. We can cover quite a few acres in day, so we have the advantage of getting there, getting it done, and getting back and on to the next grower.”
Cruce also notes that aerial application does not cause soil compaction or disturb the crop since ag aircraft apply products from above the crop canopy rather than within it. Watch the full video above.
A companion article on NAAREF’s Operation S.A.F.E. calibration clinics is scheduled to go live on Syngenta’s Thrive website in May. The article originally appeared in Thrive’s recently retired print magazine in its first quarter 2023 issue, the print magazine’s final edition.
