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Planes Out And About Spraying Crops
Chances are if you see a big yellow plane flying low over a field, it's spraying crops for pests.

The season is underway for the planes, also known as crop dusters, which should continue for another week or two. Andy Fleisher, certified crop advisor for Crop Production Services, says the main pest so far has been the Japanese Beetle, which began moving out of trees and corn fields into soybean fields.

Fleisher tells WGIL the planes, which are encouraged to spray as low as possible for the best coverage, have in the past resulted in a lot of calls from concerned citizens.

"The last three or four years, we've really taking a proactive approach with the airplanes versus a reactive approach. There's a lot of question marks when the public sees the airplanes out flying around...(they want to know) what's going on."

Fleisher encourages people to communicate with Crop Production Services, which he says is willing to report what a specific airplane was spraying and if there's a potential hazard.

Fleisher says spraying crops by airplane is a preventive measure that pays big dividends by helping to fight diseases and boost harvest efficiency. He says it's also a dangerous job because the planes move at a high rate of speed and encounter a lot of obstacles like power lines, cell phone towers, and now, wind towers.

Fleisher calls the price for spraying a substantial investment by producers, but he also says the return on investment is large as well.
07 27 09 by Newsroom
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