Does this still go on?

opininionated

opininionated

On final warning
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40m from my patio door, I loved watching them do the spuds, I reckon this was early 90's.
Legislation put a stop to it round here, and the development of high capacity self propelled took over, but is aerial spraying still done anywhere in the UK?
 
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They did huge areas of bracken round here like that with Asulox in the 1990s there has been some half baked claims about risk from the chemical but there is more risk from the bracken spores IMO.
I think the last time I saw them doing missed strips etc was the year before it was going to be banned but in fact you could still get it in limited quantities for a while.
 
There was an incident with farm opposite they over-sprayed rough grazing by the moor must have been at least six acres were quite badly checked - it did affect some less productive grass types.
They got compo but the following several years that area was dominated more by clover instead so improved it if anything.
 
Dad had it done back in the '60's. Some poor bloke marked the rows. At least he wouldn't have got blight. I was told years ago that they stopped using choppers ( stop sniggering ) because the down draft broke the stems and actually let blight take hold.🤷‍♂️
 
I thought no chems were licensed in the UK for aerial use now?🧐

My dad had B&W photos of one of our fields being sprayed by a small plane, again maybe in the 60s. Must’ve been a hell of a job because there are electric wires across only a short way before the end of the field (40m or so) which he was flying under, then very large ash trees at the end of the field. He’d have to pull up pretty sharp!
 
The above picture would have been the very early 90's, taken from our garden which wasnt a garden before then. I think this particular occassion was for a one off for a disease other than blight but I cant remember exactly what it was or why airbourne was adopted. It was widely practiced in the area for blight spraying during the 70's, organised by Wells, I wonder what Frank is up to these days?.
 
opininionated said:
The above picture would have been the very early 90's, taken from our garden which wasnt a garden before then. I think this particular occassion was for a one off for a disease other than blight but I cant remember exactly what it was or why airbourne was adopted. It was widely practiced in the area for blight spraying during the 70's, organised by Wells, I wonder what Frank is up to these days?.
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He came and judged some beans here for the county farms competition would be 5 yrs ago now I think
Didn’t place us 😄
Would that still be Roberts and Hewitt back then , county crops where still only county fertiliser early 90,s 🤔 and I’m not sure they ran a chopper we were doing a lot of fert and chem for them using big trailed machines to start with them self propelled s by 93/4 ish
We had Probably same machine come and do some fungicide on beans mid late 80,s one field only 6 acres was right up to the village pond
I recall standing in orange waterproofs fag firmly in mouth holding a red flag a certain distance in field think it was so the pilot knew when to switch off so chem didn’t drift into pond
So suppose the environment was more important than a young fingermouse even back then
Can’t remember it ever doing spuds with us
Big attraction was I suppose on the Lancashire and north Cheshire moss land that copter would have been a god send
Do you remember how much an acre it was ?
 
It would have been Roberts and Hewit back then, Helicopter was run by Wellcrops I think, which was frank wells family business.
I reckon Frank must have retired about 5 years ago so judging your beans was perhaps his kast task..
That pic was at father in laws before I got involved, so not sure on cost per acre, but the chopper was used locally for blight spraying throughout the 70's, spuds were grown next to my family farm and I remember the excitement when it came spraying, same farmer had a contractor turn up in '75 with a self propelled tatty harvester which at the time of single row harvesters was quite a beast.
 
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