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Iowa | Airplanes have a diminishing spray pattern - it doesn't come straight down with clean edges. It tapers off gradually. Each plane is usually tested to determine the exact pattern specific to that airplane and boom setup - and to determine the proper amount of overlap to achieve uniform coverage. If a plane leaves a "check strip" you will often struggle to find that line - because there is no line. Depending on the width - the "untreated" area potentially has received a partial treatment - thus skewing the fact finding. Any such checks should be quite large in area so that a person can pull the data from the center of treated and untreated areas.
Millions and millions of acres get treated annually by aircraft. A competent and knowledgeable operator will ensure that the acres they spray get done in a manner that maximizes the potential of the product being applied.
I've seen some pretty lousy spray jobs done by ground rigs. It would be disingenuous - despite my personal observations of some ground rig performance - to proclaim that all ground based spray operations are inferior to other methods of application.
If you don't have confidence in your aerial applicator - buy a Hagie. Or.....find an aerial applicator you can trust to do good work.
There is a time and place for everything. We have a large number of customers with high clearance rigs (Hagie or Miller) who hire us to aerially apply their fungicide/insecticide on corn and often soybeans. As a percentage - our soybean acres increase every year.
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Plane or ground rig to fungicide corn?
