Airplane Crop Duster Day

Airplane Crop Duster Day is a celebration of airplanes used to spray pesticides and fertilizers. It sounds a little strange, but for agriculture, the ability to spray these substances from the air means a lot. At one time, the appearance of such aircraft marked a real revolution in crop cultivation.

History

Spraying pesticides with aircraft began at the dawn of aviation – in the early 1920s. In the 40s, this became commonplace. After another 20 years, this method raiseed questions: environmental pollution with pesticides was recorded. Aerial spraying is currently prohibited in many places.

It is not completely abandoned, because this method has many positive aspects. These include the ability to quickly cover large areas with the necessary substances, as well as the effective reduction of the number of harmful insects, including mosquitoes that carry dangerous diseases. To ensure that the environment does not suffer, many protective measures are now in place.

Interesting facts

• Unlike land-based equipment, air spraying does not damage crops or land.
• In the US and Europe small aircraft are predominantly used, while in Australia, where vast areas need to be treated, the aircraft are larger.
• Spraying pesticides requires pilots to be highly precise and agile, as they must ensure the substances are not blown away by the wind and do not fall on trees and houses.

How to take part

Search for information about spraying aircraft and their pilots – read articles or watch videos. Interesting books have been written about this, such as Back-N-Forth: Recollections of a Crop Duster, on Amazon.

When is Airplane Crop Duster Day celebrated in 2022?

Airplane Crop Duster Day is observed on August 3 each year.

Observations