Aerial Applicators Soar Over Iowa’s Croplands

By: IPTV Market to Market

Aerial application, or crop dusting, began nearly a century ago in the U.S., and over time has reaped the benefits of technological advancement like other wings of agriculture.
Several types of growers and ranchers employ the method, along with herbicides, dry fertilizers and cover crop seeding.

According to the National Agricultural Aviation Association, a Washington, D.C. based industry advocate, 71 million acres of cropland across the nation
are treated from above every year, in addition to millions of acres of pasture and rangeland.

In Iowa, that amounts to a more than $214 million annual industry with the mix applied to around 5 million acres – as estimated by the Iowa Agricultural Aviation Association.