Meet the Man in the Plane
By: Katie McWhirter
Sometimes when my phone rings during aerial application season, it’s not always a pleasant call, but last year, I had several calls regarding how well our pilot flew fields and how low he was, ensuring that he was being efficient with the product he was applying. Usually, I write about fungicide and the benefits that our growers have been seeing, but this month I’ll spend more time on the people that get the job done.
For many years, we had the same aerial applicator, but when Charlie was nearing retirement, he knew that he needed to align us with a company that had the same values as ours, so he transitioned us to Midland Flyers and Zach Lawson in the fall of 2014. Midland Flyers is located in Miami, Oklahoma, and is no stranger to Iowa. Greg Epperson, the owner of the company, has been flying in Iowa for nearly 20 years. Although Greg came to assist for a few days last summer when we had a lot of acres to cover, his nephew, Zach Lawson, is our regular pilot. Zach is in his 4th year of aerial application and attended Flying Tiger Aviation in Bastop, Louisiana. Growing up on a cattle ranch, Zach’s always had a passion for agriculture. Zach also enjoyed watching his uncle be an aerial applicator; so he decided to combine his two loves. “I’ve always wanted to fly and by being an aerial applicator. I’m able to help farmers and ranchers better their operations.” Additionally, Zach has been involved with helping his father with his ground spraying operation over the past ten years. Zach and his wife were recently married, have started their own cattle farm, and have three dogs in Oklahoma.
Since you cannot see tracks in the fields, sometimes growers wonder if the product has been put on. To the left is one yield map that was shocking to see; the grower instructed the pilot to not fly over the homestead on the east and to start spraying west until you hit the short rows (to the west). I would say that Zach did exactly that! In this instance, it was a 30+ bushel difference!
For more information about aerial application of pesticides and/or foliar fertilizer, contact your Stutsman Agronomist!