Trained pilots
An ag pilot holds a commercial pilot certificate and flies under Part 137 of the federal aviation regulations, the rules the Federal Aviation Administration wrote for agricultural aircraft.
The work
Ag Aviation in Idaho
Aerial application is the use of aircraft to protect and feed crops. Most people still call it crop dusting. This page explains what it is, why Idaho agriculture depends on it, and how it is done.
The stakes
What Idaho grows
Agriculture runs through Idaho’s economy. In 2024, agribusiness generated a record $44.5 billion in sales, 17.2 percent of the state’s total economic output, and supported about 137,900 jobs. That is roughly one job in nine.
Idaho has 22,600 farms and ranches and leads the nation in potatoes and barley.
Every one of those crops has to get from planting to harvest. Weather, weeds, insects and disease do not wait, and when a problem appears a grower often has days to respond.
Sources: University of Idaho, Economic Contribution of Idaho Agribusiness 2025 (2024 data). Idaho State Department of Agriculture, 2026 Idaho Agriculture Facts.
Why aircraft
When the job has to be done from the air
When the ground is too wet
After irrigation or rain, a ground sprayer sinks, ruts the field and packs the soil. An aircraft treats the same field without touching it.
When the crop has closed in
By midsummer, potato vines and corn fill the rows. Driving through crushes plants. Flying over does not.
When there are only days to act
An aircraft covers several times the acres a ground sprayer can in a day. When disease or insects arrive, that speed decides whether a field is treated on time.
- 127 millionacres of U.S. cropland treated by air each year
- 28%of U.S. cropland in production
- 99.9%of aerial applicators use GPS
Source: National Agricultural Aviation Association, 2019 industry survey.
The people
Who is flying
Licensed applicators
Applying a pesticide for hire in Idaho takes a professional applicator license from the Idaho State Department of Agriculture, kept current with continuing education.
Calibrated aircraft
At an Operation S.A.F.E. clinic, an analyst measures an aircraft’s spray pattern and the pilot corrects the setup until it is even. The association has hosted these clinics in Gooding.
The job
How a field gets treated
A grower or crop adviser finds a problem and chooses a product registered for that crop.
The product label sets the rules. Each label is approved by the Environmental Protection Agency and sets the rate, the wind limits and the distances to keep.
The pilot plans the job around the field, the wind, power lines, houses and anything sensitive nearby.
The aircraft flies GPS-guided passes low over the crop. Nozzles are chosen to make droplets large enough to land on the field and stay there.
The operator keeps a record of the application.
Questions
What neighbors ask
A plane is working near my house. Is that allowed?
Yes. Agricultural aircraft may fly low over the fields they are treating. Pilots remain bound by Federal Aviation Administration rules and by the product label.
Why do they fly so early in the morning?
Wind is usually lightest around sunrise, and calm air keeps the product on the field.
What is being applied?
It depends on the crop. Most applications control weeds, insects or plant disease. Aircraft also apply fertilizer and seed. Every pesticide is registered by the Environmental Protection Agency and applied according to its label.
Is this the same as crop dusting?
It is the same trade. Dry dusts gave the work its name about a century ago. Today most applications are liquid, measured and GPS-guided, so the industry calls it aerial application.
I have a concern about an application. Who do I call?
If you know the operator, call them first. Most concerns are settled in one conversation. The Idaho State Department of Agriculture investigates pesticide complaints.
Contact
Have a question about aerial application in Idaho?
Reporters, legislators, growers and neighbors can reach the association directly. Operators and pilots can join or renew.