It's the helicopter season in These titles mean nothing.
- July 27, 2023, 10:34 a.m.
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- Public
Last few years there has been a new way for farmers to spend money. Mid-summer, now in fact, the air is filled with helicopters. They spray corn for a fungus. I had Jim explain it to me and I ended up thinking it was like black spot on roses. It’s a fungus that is attracted to foliage and attacks the plants ability to grow. Jim says his corn seed salesman whom he trusts says the spraying doesn’t help much. Also corn black spot isn’t really a thing to worry about. So, while we put a cocktail of chemicals on our crops, we do not spray them with helicopters.
Just a thought though. How much does a spray or two of helicopter chemicals increase our already deep carbon footprint? It’s hot today, the hottest so far this year. It’s still not too bad. I’m comfortable at my kitchen table and I haven’t started the fan yet.
I suppose there is profit to be made. What a wonderful world we live in. I wonder how much longer it will last.
Jinn ⋅ July 27, 2023
Last week while driving back from Clinton I got buzzed twice by a crop duster airplane . There were no other cars on that highway so I suppose the guy was joking around but he startled me by coming in so low. It was a gorgeous little plane ; painted bright yellow and black.
The chemicals they spray on crops can not be good for us or the animals who eat it , but the world runs on money so no crops; no money . If farmers are buying helicopters ; they are making big profits. All the ones around here seem to have 1-2 4x4 s that they run around in , big trucks and fancy jeeps. It makes me not take them very seriously when they say they are struggling.
woman in the moon ⋅ July 27, 2023
Midwestern farmers have had a pretty good time the last few years.
I don't think any farmers buy a helicopter - they come from outside contractors.
noko ⋅ July 27, 2023
I was watching a show recently about herding dogs in Australia and was astonished to see how much they had been using helicopters. They were beginning to think the dogs worked better.
A Pedestrian Wandering ⋅ July 28, 2023
Helicopters in the sky here mean there is a big news event unfolding, mass shooting, car chase, criminal on the loose, that sort of thing. Here we have more crop dusting airplanes. I see them most in the Central Valley ag fields. I'm sure I have consumed plenty of the stuff they all broadcast.
Just Annie ⋅ July 28, 2023
Here we have a single yellow plane that seems to dust the crops of all the farms in the area. It's a bit startling when they do the field behind us and in front of us. It looks like they're going to crash into the house. Cool, but scary.
NorthernSeeker ⋅ July 28, 2023
Must drive the organic farmers crazy if they have land beside a farmer who dusts.
ConnieK ⋅ July 28, 2023
I think the deniers are (mostly) on board now but the odds of environmental spending for alternatives are slim to none. Have you caught up with what's happening to Siberia's ice sheets? We live in dangerous times. The message of "One Tin Soldier" comes to mind.