The Rural Voice, 1991-06, Page 22THE LAST OF THE CROP DUSTERS?
EVEN THOUGH THEY ARE CAUTIOUS AND CAREFUL, AIR SPRAYERS
THINK THEIR FUTURE MAY BE RESTRICTED BY ENVIRONMENTALISTS
For Jim Horvath, there are far more
dangers on the ground these days than
there arc flying low over farmers'
fields, avoiding hydro wires, trees, and
turbulent air.
You see Jim applies pesticides by
airplane — he is what many know as a
crop duster — and these days he faces
more dangers from people on the
ground than he does in the air.
Jim, who is a friendly affable man
in his mid 40s, operates Jim's Flying
Service near Scaforth, and sprays
pesticides, mostly for the agriculture
industry. He fears he may be the last
of a dying breed. His profession has
become a lightning rod, attracting
criticism from nearly every environ-
mental group in the nation who claim
his spraying is damaging the environ-
ment and polluting the earth. "Flying
on sprays may he a thing of the past in
10 years," he laments sadly.
Jim says it's an unfair stereotyping,
as "crop dusters" provide a necessary
service. They arc heavily licensed,
regulated and insured so the typical
image on TV of planes indiscrimin-
ately spraying unnecessary poisons on
crops is completely false. Every year
he must pass a battery of tests from
the federal department of transport-
ation as well as the provincial
ministries of the environment, and
agriculture and food.
In fact, Jim says "crop dusters" are
far more responsible applicators than
many ground operators. "It's just that
story and photos
by Jim Fitzgerald
we're highly visible and make a lot of
noise so we stick out," says Jim. "We
would never think of spraying a
herbicide or insecticide in a wind over
seven miles an hour, and yet I've seen
ground applicators out in 30 mile an
hour winds with the spray drifting all
over the place."
And he's no fly-by-night operator
either. A native of the Tillsonburg
area, where he also lives, Jim is cele-
brating 25 years of spraying crops in
Ontario. In a quarter of a century he's
only had one minor claim for mis-
spraying, which he says was based on
very circumstantial evidence. "I want
to stay in business. I have a steady
clientele who count on me."
Jim doesn't fit the traditional
image of the Waldo Pepper type
character of movie fame with a scarf
flapping from his neck and a maniacal
glint in his eye, as he goes barn
storming in an open cockpit biplane.
Although Jim admits he learned
the business 25 years ago in such a
plane (he set out to be a bush pilot),
these days air applicators have a host
of sophisticated equipment and mon-
itors to apply the "product." Jim's
plane is a very dependable 1977, six -
cylinder Pawnee "D" and his equip -
In his Pare'ncc "P" lira (lir in low over his grass landing strip, demonstrating spraying technique with plain water.
18 THE RURAL VOICE