BRODHEAD - Though low-flying planes are often associated with the spraying of chemicals, Jason Thomas, National Resources Conservation Service Conservationist for Green County, said the items being dropped from a one-pilot yellow plane Monday were simply seeds.
"It was mostly oats or winter rye, and some radishes and turnips mixed in," Thomas said. "It's just regular old seed, no different than the oats you'd feed your horses."
Seeds fell from the sky onto roughly 900 acres, Thomas said, covering in one day what ground equipment would take over a week to accomplish. Seeds were dropped from Brodhead to the outskirts of Monroe and south of Juda.
The oats and assorted plants are a method to prevent soil erosion in the winter months. They are referred to as cover crops. After seasonal growth is harvested, the oats and rye and even radishes coat the soil with a protective layer during the off-season. With roots in place and greenery covering fields in fall, the nutrients can be maintained and healthy soil can be used to grow crops the following season. Cover crops have been known to reduce pests in the soil and increase yield potential over time.
Pearl City Elevator provided the seed to pilot Dean Heimermann, who flies for Countryside Aviation of Clinton. Heimermann used the Brodhead airport for refilling the plane. Pearl City employees worked in the field no more than 20 feet from Airport Road with two trucks and a black gravity box, a wagon in which the seeds were transferred from the trucks. As the material filled the box, the seeds slid toward the bottom and into a large mobile pipe, where they were lifted upward and dumped into the plane at will.
As the bright-yellow plane descended mid-day Monday, the men readied themselves to feed a new supply of seeds into the plane's compartment. Heimermann parked the airplane, the front propeller still whirling. Operators opened a hatch on top of the front of the plane and started pouring the rye and oats into a compartment.
In less than 10 minutes, Heimerman was back in the cockpit, taxing for take-off and into the air toward the next field, his stomach sated from a quickly-eaten chicken sandwich one of his collaborators brought from the local McDonald's. As the plane flew off, an operator began transferring another load from a seed truck to the gravity box.
The process continued throughout the day.
Mitchell Hughes, who conducts sales for Pearl City Elevator, said refilling the plane would likely happen around 20 times. Hughes noted that some members of the public are unable to discern between seeds dropping from the sky and pesticides or fungicides, which get sprayed over cropland throughout the year.
"I think the biggest fear is people think we're killing their garden," Hughes said. "They see a big yellow airplane flying over and they automatically assume we're spraying something."
Each load of seeds took 30 to 45 minutes to spread over the designated acreage before Heimermann would return to fill the plane once more. Hughes estimated that each run covers 50 acres of farmland, though he said the amount of acreage was less than in previous years. Thomas said the reason has not been a lack of interest, but rather the late growing season, which makes processes like planting cover crops more difficult to schedule.
A goal for use of cover crops this year has been to prevent erosion along the Spring Creek Watershed, Thomas said. Organizers must wait to see how the cover crops develop and whether rain will fall.
"Everything should be great," Thomas said. "It all just depends on the weather."
"It was mostly oats or winter rye, and some radishes and turnips mixed in," Thomas said. "It's just regular old seed, no different than the oats you'd feed your horses."
Seeds fell from the sky onto roughly 900 acres, Thomas said, covering in one day what ground equipment would take over a week to accomplish. Seeds were dropped from Brodhead to the outskirts of Monroe and south of Juda.
The oats and assorted plants are a method to prevent soil erosion in the winter months. They are referred to as cover crops. After seasonal growth is harvested, the oats and rye and even radishes coat the soil with a protective layer during the off-season. With roots in place and greenery covering fields in fall, the nutrients can be maintained and healthy soil can be used to grow crops the following season. Cover crops have been known to reduce pests in the soil and increase yield potential over time.
Pearl City Elevator provided the seed to pilot Dean Heimermann, who flies for Countryside Aviation of Clinton. Heimermann used the Brodhead airport for refilling the plane. Pearl City employees worked in the field no more than 20 feet from Airport Road with two trucks and a black gravity box, a wagon in which the seeds were transferred from the trucks. As the material filled the box, the seeds slid toward the bottom and into a large mobile pipe, where they were lifted upward and dumped into the plane at will.
As the bright-yellow plane descended mid-day Monday, the men readied themselves to feed a new supply of seeds into the plane's compartment. Heimermann parked the airplane, the front propeller still whirling. Operators opened a hatch on top of the front of the plane and started pouring the rye and oats into a compartment.
In less than 10 minutes, Heimerman was back in the cockpit, taxing for take-off and into the air toward the next field, his stomach sated from a quickly-eaten chicken sandwich one of his collaborators brought from the local McDonald's. As the plane flew off, an operator began transferring another load from a seed truck to the gravity box.
The process continued throughout the day.
Mitchell Hughes, who conducts sales for Pearl City Elevator, said refilling the plane would likely happen around 20 times. Hughes noted that some members of the public are unable to discern between seeds dropping from the sky and pesticides or fungicides, which get sprayed over cropland throughout the year.
"I think the biggest fear is people think we're killing their garden," Hughes said. "They see a big yellow airplane flying over and they automatically assume we're spraying something."
Each load of seeds took 30 to 45 minutes to spread over the designated acreage before Heimermann would return to fill the plane once more. Hughes estimated that each run covers 50 acres of farmland, though he said the amount of acreage was less than in previous years. Thomas said the reason has not been a lack of interest, but rather the late growing season, which makes processes like planting cover crops more difficult to schedule.
A goal for use of cover crops this year has been to prevent erosion along the Spring Creek Watershed, Thomas said. Organizers must wait to see how the cover crops develop and whether rain will fall.
"Everything should be great," Thomas said. "It all just depends on the weather."