BISMARCK, N.D. — Aerial applicators in North Dakota treated 5.5 million acres in 2024 — setting a new record while recording no fatal incidents in the year among pilots.

“It’s really astounding when you think about 160 skilled pilots and what they’re able to do,” said Kyle Wanner, executive director of the North Dakota Aeronautics Commission. “When you go back to the ’80s, we had double the amount of aerial applicators, we had double the amount of pilots, and we had double the amount of aircraft. And so we’re doing much more today with less, and that’s due to the incredible work of these skilled aviators and the technology, the larger aircraft that they’re flying.”

The previous record was 5.2 million acres, set in 2015. The average acreage treated since 2001 has been 4 million acres. According to the National Agricultural Aviation Association, aerial applicators nationwide treat approximately 127 million acres of cropland, 5.1 million acres of forests, 7.9 million acres of pasture and rangeland and 4.8 million acres of public health spraying, including for mosquito abatement.

Steve Iglehart, president of the North Dakota Agricultural Aviation Association, said bigger airplanes that can fly faster with more reliable turbine engines play a big role in allowing fewer pilots to cover more acres, as does GPS.

“GPS is a big, huge, huge for aviation,” said Iglehart, an aerial applicator who works in the Garrison area. “Airplanes are just faster and more productive now than they’ve ever been. I started off in the smaller airplane, 150 gallon hopper. You know, it works good for close in, 10 miles, 20 miles out. Then I get a 400 gallon hopper, one. Then you go out farther, 30 miles. Then a 500 gallon hopper — then you go out even a little bit farther and carry more. You can get more done in the shorter time.”

Treatments applied via airplane can include things like fungicides, herbicides and insecticides. Unique agronomic conditions also were involved in the record acreage in 2024.

“So we had a lot of moisture, wet ground in the eastern part. The rain came at the right time. Usually, if you get rain in June, you’re pretty much going to be guaranteed for a fungicide run somewhere,” he said.

Commodity prices were high enough in the spring that farmers saw the need to protect the crop. And if they aren’t using aerial application, farmers realize that they’ll have to apply from the ground. Saving the time on the farm staff, compaction from the sprayer and the wear and tear on the ground sprayer can mean that “sometimes the airplanes are flying for free,” Iglehart said.

“You know, they don’t have to hire somebody. They don’t have to find somebody to mix and load for them. That’s usually the aerial guy’s job. We can go farther. We can go cut across the field faster, get to a location faster than they can, if it’s safe. They got a field 30 miles away? We can get to it faster before a wind can come up. We’ve got the prime conditions to get something done at the right time,” he said.

After several

crashes

resulting in

fatalities

among aerial applicators in the region in 2023, a larger focus has been placed on safety. Iglehart said fatigue and the unique situations pilots encounter — like flying low and dealing with power lines — play a part.

“There’s days where you can get about 14 hours just running an airplane,” he said. “It’s a high-stakes game.”

He stressed the importance of pilots getting enough sleep, eating right and staying hydrated and positive as things that can help. But his association also took another step in 2024, putting on an eight-hour course on flying in wires and situational awareness. He credits the course for the clean 2024 flying season and said the association may make it a regular thing.

“I think that course paid dividends, for sure, in this last year,” he said. “It is expensive to have, but it’s cheap insurance when the return on investment is, nobody loses their life or has an accident. Everybody always needs to be reminded of things. Doesn’t matter how old or young you are. It’s just a good awareness thing to have.”

All aerial applicators must be licensed by the North Dakota Aeronautics Commission and must report their acreage to the commission by Dec. 1. North Dakota has 78 licensed manned aerial applicators, operating 183 aircraft with 156 pilots, and 21 unmanned aerial applicators, who operate drones in precision agriculture operations.

The unmanned aerial applicator portion is fairly new. The Aeronautics Commission has been licensing drone applicators who provide crop treatments since 2022. The 5.5 million acres treated in 2024 included 70,000 acres treated via unmanned aerial application. Wanner expects the number of unmanned operators to increase.

“The interest continues to grow,” he said. “We have 21 licensed unmanned operators. It might be up to 40 by the end of this year … based on the interest that we’re receiving.”

The North Dakota Legislature will consider during the 2025 session

House Bill 1037

, which would set up grant programs for use of autonomous systems, including drones, in multiple areas, including agriculture. The bill has been referred to the House Appropriations Committee and had not had a hearing scheduled as of Jan. 15.

Iglehart doesn’t know anyone operating a drone for crop treatments in his area, but he thinks they have their place in the industry.

“Where I like to see those things is probably under power lines and around corners,” he said.

He said they’re also useful for small plots where it wouldn’t make sense to “fire up the airplane.”

Wanner stressed that licensing is mandatory for applying crop treatments via drone.

“You can’t just go out there and mix the chemical and start flying that aircraft. There are a couple of things that we just need to ensure that you’re doing prior to that, but it is actually a relatively easy process once you really understand it, and we’re happy to walk through that with anybody,” Wanner said.

The process includes getting a Remote Pilot Certificate from the Federal Aviation Administration, an Agricultural Aircraft Operator certificate from the FAA, a North Dakota Pesticide Certificate from North Dakota State University and an Unmanned Aerial Applicator License from the Aeronautics Commission.

Wanner said properly following those steps are critical in ensuring safety for operators and for the public, even if someone is just spot spraying on their own farm.

“Those are just some things that are critical, because at the end of the day, we want a professional environment. We want a professional environment for our aerial applicators, but also for our unmanned air applicators,” Wanner said.

While more acres are getting covered with fewer pilots than in the past, the aerial applicator community still is looking for more young people interested in flying. Like farming, Wanner said it can be a difficult industry to get into, so discussions about how to get people interested and involved are ongoing.

“We want to obviously excite the next generation,” he said, noting that new technology and automation may be interest points for some. “You know, there’s different things like like that may come into play to make things easier moving forward.”

Iglehart said anyone interested in becoming an aerial applicator should contact a local applicator and visit with them about opportunities.

“Basically, they’re going to put you as a loader guy. Get learning and mixing and loading the airplane, get familiar with that. And then if they feel you can handle that well, then you can start applying for your private pilot license. Then you go into just flying a little bit, practicing the spray runs. And then if he feels like you can move on to the next step, he’ll put you in an airplane that you can track your GPS and just learn the basics and be safe,” he said.