Show I J 3 V 1 m I IThe 4 rs s N The Flyers Who Help Us Eat Better More Economically Agricultural aviators aviators- that is the date up-to-date title for crop dusters are dusters are flying more and its it's saving everyone everyone everyone every every- one money Agricultural aviators cut an estimated 15 billion from the nations nation's food and fiber bill each I year because their method of treating seeding and fertilizing certain certain t tain in crops is more efficient This thriving industry which boasts an a annual growth rate of 12 is more efficient than ground application application ap application ap- ap methods primarily because of its speed It depends depends de de- de on the number of turns but on an average field we we can seed fertilize a arid d fre t ne crop i- i in in one one one- tenth the time it takes ground equipment to do the job sa says s James K K Vedder an ag aviator and President of the National Agricultural Aviation Asso Association Another cost cutting fac fac- fac- fac tor tors is s in reducing the need for labor Farm labor is getting scarce and expensive expensive sive points out Vedder Ground equipment is also costly so many farmers and ranchers have found that it pays to have th their ir work done by air he concludes I In a little over two years American farmers put an additional 60 million acres into prod production tion Ag aviators I have been reli relied d on often to help with these added acres I And energy conservation 1 is s still another a advantage of agricultural aviation Studies show aerial application can canut cut ut fuel costs byas much muchas as gro J We I f Altogether there are more than companies providing providing pro pro- viding agricultural aviation j services with more than aircraft in all 50 states Its It's all part of lifting I farming in America to the heights of t technology |