National Agricultural Aviation Association
The role of aerial application in improving sustainability and addressing climate change
With ever-increasing emphasis on sustainability among consumers and regulators, farming in the 21st century has become a complex balance of maximizing crop yields, protecting the earth’s resources, and ensuring a safe and healthy food supply. Aerial application is a critically important part of growers’ efforts to achieve this balance.
American farmers use aerial application on nearly 130 million acres of cropland each year to control insects and plant diseases, as well as to apply fertilizer and seeds. With aerial applicators’ efficiency and ability to attack pests or apply fertilizer over large acreage at just the right time, the yield benefits associated with aerial crop care are well documented. High yields are essential to sustainability; American farmers are using less land to feed more people than ever, which means more land available for sequestering carbon, preserving wetlands, and maintaining wildlife habitat.
According to a 2020 study conducted by Texas A&M University, yields across all U.S. crops would be decreased by about 25% if aerial application were not available. In five key crops, annual yield gains attributed directly to aerial crop care are:
- Corn: 1.69 billion bushels
- Wheat: 199 million bushels
- Soybeans: 295 million bushels
- Cotton: 548 million pounds
- Rice: 3.33 billion pounds
The total area of cropland that would be needed to replace this lost yield is 27.4 million acres, an area roughly the size of Tennessee. The incremental carbon footprint that would result from farming this additional land is immeasurable, not to mention the impact of the lost efficiency on farmers’ bottom lines.
The use of cutting-edge technology that allows precision aerial application is a key practice in environmentally sustainable ag production. Precision application involves using digital maps to analyze crop health, enabling the aerial application of prescribed doses of soil/plant nutrients, crop protection products or seeds in exact doses only where needed.
Another important sustainability practice made more effective by aerial application is the use of cover crops. The practice involves blanketing fields during their “dormant” season with grasses, small grains and other low-maintenance crops. Cover crops build soil health and preserve water quality by controlling erosion and runoff, introducing natural soil nutrients, building organic matter and increasing farmland biodiversity. Because it can be done relatively quickly, does not damage the primary crop still in the field and does not cause soil compaction, sowing cover crop seeds from an aircraft pre-harvest has proven to be the most effective seeding method.
In addition to the soil conservation and water quality benefits delivered by aerial cover cropping, the practice is an important tactic in climate change mitigation as well. Cover crops seeded by air are able to get established early in their growing season, which enhances carbon sequestration by maximizing the amount of plant residue the cover crop adds to the soil. Plus, seeding from an aircraft reduces fossil fuel usage by eliminating the need for post-harvest tillage and planting with ground equipment. By seeding 3.8 million acres of cover crops annually, aerial applicators are responsible for helping to sequester 1.9 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent annually, which according to the EPA is the equivalent of removing about 412,000 fossil fuel powered cars from the roads each year.
Learn more at www.agaviation.org.