Flying fungus fighting
Shane Myers of Gateway Precision Agriculture in Hawk Point has had to add a mix of fungicide to the usual chemical concoction he buys and hires a helicopter pilot to disperse over crops in middle Missouri. Fungus has returned this growing season as a problem that prompts farmers to employ deterrents.
Photos by Christian Gooden, cgooden@post-dispatch.com
Crop spraying to save fungal spread
Tim Fulton, of Excel Helicopters, LLC, flies over a soybean field on Tuesday, August, 11, 2020, spraying a concoction of chemicals that contains a fungicide in Hawk Point, Mo. The dispersal tanks on the helicopter carry a total of 100 gallons; which can spray about 50 acres at a time. Photo by Christian Gooden, cgooden@post-dispatch.com
Crop spraying to save fungal spread
Nick Fulton, of Excel Helicopters, LLC, gives the all-clear signal to his father, Tim Fulton, on Tuesday, August, 11, 2020, before taking off with 100 gallons of a concoction he will spray on about 50 acres of soybeans on a farm in Hawk Point, Mo. The dispersal tanks on the helicopter were filled with a mixture of fungicide, fertilizer and insecticide from a mobile tank and landing pad; which can follow the refurbished 1976 MD-500 over miles of farmland. Photo by Christian Gooden, cgooden@post-dispatch.com
Crop spraying to save fungal spread
Shane Myers, of Gateway Precision Agriculture, exposes the bright yellowish streaks on a leaf of corn on Monday, August, 10, 2020, that indicate a disease in a field in Hawk Point, Mo. Myers hires a refurbished 1976 MD-500 helicopter to spray appropriate fungicides and other agriculture chemicals over area farmland. Photo by Christian Gooden, cgooden@post-dispatch.com
Crop spraying to save fungal spread
Tim Fulton, of Excel Helicopters, LLC, performs some maintenance on his 1976 MD-500 helicopter on Tuesday, August, 11, 2020, before an afternoon of spraying crops in Lincoln County with a concoction of fungicide, fertilizer and insecticide. An abundance of rain this spring and summer has spurred the need for farmers to increase use of anti-fungal deterrents. Photo by Christian Gooden, cgooden@post-dispatch.com
Crop spraying to save fungal spread
Tim Fulton, of Excel Helicopters, LLC, flies over a soybean field on Tuesday, August, 11, 2020, spraying a concoction of chemicals that contains a fungicide in Hawk Point, Mo. The dispersal tanks on the helicopter carry a total of 100 gallons; which can spray about 50 acres at a time. Photo by Christian Gooden, cgooden@post-dispatch.com
Crop spraying to save fungal spread
Nick Fulton, right, of Excel Helicopters, LLC, fills a large mobile tank on Tuesday, August, 11, 2020, with a concoction of fungicide, fertilizer and insecticide before his father, Tim Fulton, second from left, takes to the air to spray about 1200 acres of soybeans and corn from a farm in Hawk Point, Mo. The tank is beneath a helipad on a trailer, which can follow the refurbished 1976 MD-500 over miles of farmland for refilling. Shane Myers, left, and Jeff Bingham, second from right, are also pictured.Photo by Christian Gooden, cgooden@post-dispatch.com
Crop spraying to save fungal spread
Nick Fulton, of Excel Helicopters, LLC, fills dispersal tanks on Tuesday, August, 11, 2020, before his father, Tim Fulton, takes to air to spray a concoction on about 50 acres of soybeans on a farm in Hawk Point, Mo. The concoction is a mixture of fungicide, fertilizer and insecticide pumped from from a mobile tank and landing pad; which can follow the refurbished 1976 MD-500 over miles of farmland. Photo by Christian Gooden, cgooden@post-dispatch.com
Crop spraying to save fungal spread
Shane Myers, of Gateway Precision Agriculture, looks for examples of diseased soybeans to show journalists on Monday, August, 10, 2020, in a field outside his business in Hawk Point, Mo. Myers hires a refurbished 1976 MD-500 helicopter and pilot to spray appropriate fungicides and other agriculture chemicals over area farmland. Photo by Christian Gooden, cgooden@post-dispatch.com
Crop spraying to save fungal spread
Tim Fulton, of Excel Helicopters, LLC, carries a starter battery out to his 1976 MD-500 helicopter on Tuesday, August, 11, 2020, before an afternoon of spraying crops in Lincoln County with a concoction of fungicide, fertilizer and insecticide. An abundance of rain this spring and summer has spurred the need for farmers to increase use of anti-fungal deterrents. Photo by Christian Gooden, cgooden@post-dispatch.com
Crop spraying to save fungal spread
Tim Fulton, of Excel Helicopters, LLC, flies over a soybean field on Tuesday, August, 11, 2020, spraying a concoction of chemicals that contains a fungicide in Hawk Point, Mo. The dispersal tanks on the helicopter carry a total of 100 gallons; which can spray about 50 acres at a time. Photo by Christian Gooden, cgooden@post-dispatch.com
Christian Gooden | Post-Dispatch
Photographer
Scientists at the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center in Olivette have discovered a small clover that could hold the key to defeating a fungal disease that costs farmers worldwide more than .
