Pesticide and Herbicide Application

[Edwin]

Making these applications on fields and orchards from the air is very dangerous/risky! In our area there has been a history of airplane and heliocopter crashes causing death over the years. Some of them misjudge their distances and the air, and they crash into hillsides or other objects. I heard about a death of an applicator who was hired by my former flight instructor. The father of a man who owns and operates a flying business was grounded because he got diabetes, so his son took over the business. Years ago he had a pilot hired whom we all know, and this guy was a dare devil who would do anything. He clipped a guide wire on a power pole and lived to tell the story, which was amazing. We had a friend who was spraying in the orchards, crashed his heliocopter, and walked about with only damages to his aircraft.

This local flying business has been spraying this fields mainly for weeds in the wheat fields for years. He sprayed my brother's wheat fields 40 years ago. He has been spraying these crop fields since we have lived here the past 5 years. About a year ago he had a pilot hired to applicate sprays on the fields for him. He was spraying a canola field just up from town and down over the hill from us. It was early in the morning not long after the sun came up. We figure the sun was in his eyes, and he didn't see the power line, so he flew right into it, clipping it and losing control of his airplane dropping it, crashed against the fence at the bottom of the hillside. They covered the airplane pending an FAA investigation into the crash. The guy was airlifted to a hospital in Spokane, Washington, USA. He surived, and I think he is still alive, although I haven't heard anything about him since, but I would have heard if he would have died. Anyway because of that crash the guy owning the applicator airplane went out of business, probably because of the more expensive insurance, and then having to replace his crashed airplane. Now the farmer neighbor to us has a special spray applicator tractor which is built like a straddle buggie used to move units of lumber. It has huge wheels, and goes pretty fast for a tractor. They have a spray tank on it and a wide aparatus that can be hinged in for transport, that applies the sprays. I was very happy that the guy survived that crash.

[Edwin]

None of us are thrilled about spray applications. They are poisons mystified and put in the air. The winds carry that stuff all over, and we end up breathing some of it, as well as it getting on grass that the animals eat, as well as on garden produce. We also recognize that the farmers need to do this to increase the yield of their crops. They are doing more applications than they used to, everything from putting nitrogen in the soil to trying to kill weeds. My sister in law who has been battling cancer for the last couple of years is really unhappy about the spray. I don't like it either, but I recognize that for the farmer it is a necessity. I was walking with my doggies, and our neighbor walked over to where I was walking and told me that he was spraying in the field right next to the road where I was walking. He told me that I could do what I wanted, but he thought I should do all my walking closer to his place to avoid breathing what he was applying, so I was happy to do that and it was nice that he was concerned about me, my safety and my health. This morning I could see him spraying in the distance. It was far enough away, so that I was not greatly concerned, even though the wind was carrying the stuff towards me. Just as I was finishing walking, going past our mailbox on my way into the house, I noticed that he had moved into the field right next to where I had been walking, so I was really thankful that my walk was finished, and I didn't have to alter my walking route. I think may now that they are applying it from the ground rather than from the air we might all be a little safer from its wind drift.