Current Ag Aviation News
Iowa Bee Rule
The Iowa Bee Rule
Every spray season, pesticide applicators are faced with navigating pesticide applications around the Iowa Bee Rule.
In 2009, the current bee rule, replaced the code that was put in place in 1979. Below is the wording of the “Pesticide/Bee Rule” of the Iowa Administrative Code Chapter 21-45.31(206).
“45.31(1) Owners of apiaries, in order to protect their bees from pesticide applications, shall register the location of their apiaries with the state apiarist. Registration shall be on forms provided by the department. The registration expires December 31 each year and may be renewed the following year.
45.31(2) Between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m., a commercial applicator shall not apply to blooming crops pesticides labeled as toxic to bees when the commercial applicator is located within one mile of a registered apiary.; A commercial applicator shall be responsible for maintaining the one-mile distance from apiaries that are registered and listed on the sensitive crop registry on the first day of each month.
This rule is intended to implement Iowa Code sections 206.6(5) “a”(3) and 206.19(2).”
This amendment effectively ended notification by applicators to beekeepers within the area but limits and restricts the times that pesticide may be applied within a one-mile radius of any registered bee colony.
The number of registered beehives is increasing each year. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture - National Agricultural Statistics Service article on March 18, 2021, there are more than 35,000 bee producing colonies in Iowa, albeit this count only includes producers that have five or more colonies. This means that once you add in the producers that have less than 5 colonies, the number of hives in Iowa is much higher than the quoted 35,000.
In 2017, FieldWatch® Inc. added a new Iowa Sensitive Crop Registry platform called Bee Check that shows the location of each registered hive and its mile radius. It is also the location where producers must register their hive each year.
Our challenge here at Meyer Agri-Air is to comply with the bee rule while delivering our aerial spray application in the timeliest manner for each customer. We are looking ahead at orders to help us plan for the increasing number of bee hives in our spraying area. If you enter prepaid orders into AgSync early as booked or planned, it will assist us in this planning process.
We all understand that bees are an essential part of agriculture and pollination of crops. While addressing the ever-increasing challenge of additional beehives in Iowa and the limited time to apply pesticides, working together will help us all experience successful customer service!
Soybean Gall Midge Adult Emergence Beginning in Iowa
The following article was found on the Iowa State Extension site June 17, 2021.
This week, the first adult soybean gall midges (Photo 1) were collected in Iowa and Minnesota. Thanks to Lauren Schwarck (Corteva Agriscience) for monitoring several emergence traps this year. The positive detections were located in Buena Vista County, an area with persistent soybean gall midge populations since at least 2017.
The adults have been steadily emerging from Nebraska for three weeks. Approximately two weeks after first emergence, plant injury was noted at some Nebraska collection sites. Based on their emergence timing, we would expect to see feeding injury to start appearing near previously infested fields next week.
Soybean gall midge is a new soybean pest that is only known to occur in 114 counties in 5 states (Figure 1): Nebraska, Iowa, Minnesota, South Dakota, and Missouri. Currently, 31 counties in western Iowa have positive detections as of 2020. The larvae (maggots) of gall midges feed inside the stem near the base of the soil. Eventually, infested plants may become brittle and break off at the site of feeding. Entire plants may die as a result of feeding, causing significant yield losses for a field. Typically, infestations begin at the field edge, where farmers will notice wilted or dead plants, then advance toward the interior.
Iowa has several trapping locations this year and supports a regional trapping network in four states. We will continue to provide updates on adult emergence throughout the summer. To stay updated on state and regional midge activity, we encourage you to subscribe to the Alert Network: https://soybeangallmidge.org/sign-up-for-network-updates.
Learn how to scout for soybean gall midge larvae in these videos: https://soybeangallmidge.org/scouting-for-soybean-gall-midge.
Agriculture Aviation Celebrates its 100th Anniversary in 2021
Celebrating 100 Years
Overview
August 3, 2021 marks the 100th anniversary of an experiment in Ohio when lead arsenate dust was spread over catalpa trees to kill sphinx moth larvae. Under the direction of the Ohio Department of Agriculture, Lt. John A. Macready, a U.S. Army pilot, made the first application by aircraft with a modified Curtiss JN-6 “Super Jenny.” The government then utilized aerial application in the Southern states. In 1922, Curtiss biplanes were used to dust cotton fields near Tallulah, LA, to control bollweevils. In 1923, Huff-Daland Dusters, Inc.—the forerunner of Delta Airlines—did the first commercial dusting of crops with its own specially built aircraft.
NAAA is planning a major campaign to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the first aerial application flight and the aerial application industry. This includes a short documentary, a complete history book of the industry and a significant outreach campaign to the public and the media. Our industry has a great story to tell. It plays a crucial role in helping farmers feed, clothe and provide bio-fuel to the world. It has evolved remarkably in ten decades. As such we continue to grow as an industry today. Our story is the kind of positive lead that can really help broadcast our industry’s image with the world-at-large.
(*From the NAAA website)