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October 5, 2001

Crop dusters hurt by fly bans

By Lana Robinson
Field Editor

Crop dusters are taking it on the chin. With agriculture already suffering, recent fly bans for agricultural aviators have created additional financial burdens and, in some instances, have disrupted activities that put crops in Texas and other states at risk.

Glen Hogg, cotton and peanut producer and owner of Hogg Flying Service in Lamesa, was in the process of defoliating cotton when the bans were imposed.

"I believe in national security as much as anyone does, but this is impacting farmers being able to get their crops out in a timely manner," Hogg said Sept. 24. "I think we're getting unfairly targeted over one or two incidents. We've had a terrible year in the flying business anyway, on account of the economics of agriculture. This is one of the few times when we've been able to run all year. And now we keep getting shut down. I've got pilots needing to make a living, and I'm a businessman myself. I'm patriotric, but life has to go on."

Hogg Flying Service has five airplanes committed to the boll weevil eradication program.

"It's interrupted the program out here. I've got airplanes working on diapause at Tahoka and Crosbyton and we're in our third year here in Lamesa," Hogg reported.

Hogg noted that his work is already made difficult by other constraints, such as weather, wind and other criteria outlined in FAA licensing procedures and by the Texas Department of Agriculture. Now he worries that the bad publicity will generate more fallout for aerial sprayers in the future.

"We're going to have more complaints from citizens. We had two calls when we were spraying boll weevils. They said our plane was turning over town. I guess we're just more in the public eye right now," he said.