From the early days in the 1940s when farmers first applied superphosphate to the hills from the back of Tiger Moth aircraft, the use of aviation technology in agriculture has grown significantly.
Today, many Wairarapa farmers rely on the aerial application of fertilisers and lime. This is not just in thehill country, but also is used in cropping, horticulture and other pastoral farming systems.
Before the advent of Global Positioning Systems (GPS) and the production of accurate and consistent particle and droplet sizes for products, application from the air was a little "hit and miss".
However, advances both in development of products for application plus navigational technology has increased the accuracy of aerial topdressing considerably.
This has positive implications all round. Farmers clearly have a cost benefit if the right amount of product is applied exactly where it is needed. Similarly, the benefits of accurate application also overcome environmental concerns about product drift or the direct discharge onto areas such as expanses of water or neighbouring land that is used for other crops or even onto residential areas.
The availability of technology that markedly improves the accuracy of product application means the rural aviation industry can get the right product to the right place at the right time.
This accuracy ensures the area's amenity values are not compromised because unwanted product is not applied off target. This assurance is exactly what regulatory authorities, such as regional and district councils, need to know.
Recently, a Sustainable Farming Fund set up a project aimed at ensuring the future use of aviation in primary production. Regulators will have better access to information, giving assurance that products applied from the air are delivered appropriately and accurately.
Federated Farmers is a key stakeholder in this project. One key aspect will be the development of a competency and compliance component, which will be called Aircare. This pulls together both existing and yet-to-be-developed codes of practice.
The aim is to provide quality assurance that is third-party audited and will ensure regulations controlling product application are adhered to.
