Just to clarify for anyone who isn’t sure what these aircraft actualy do, I’ll try to explain. They don’t spray. There is very little aerial spraying in New Zealand (apart from the Government aircraft that spray the cities making everyone ill).
These PAC aircraft drop powdered fertiliser onto the land, which unlike spray which is designed to kill pests or weeds, this is to enhance the soil and erradicate the various mineral defficiencies. A farmer has his soil tested and works out what is lacking in the soil, and they mix a batch of ferts and stuff to bring the soil back to an optimum level for the year. This is usually an annual task. The fertiliser company then gets one of its planes to spread the fert. They have two seats and usually the farmer or someone from the area goes too for the first flight to point out which paddocks he wants done, and where all the trees and powerlines are, etc.
This is a technique invented in New Zealand (actually by a guy from Cambridge here I found out very recently!) and developed by the RNZAF. It revolutionised NZ farming, thus helping the ecomony thanks to exports of beef, lamb, butter, etc.
Unlike spraying which is considered unsound due to wind drift, etc., the superphosphate is heavy and doesn’t drift off course, so topdressing is very accurate and saves having to spread it by hand or tractor.
We in NZ call this technique topdressing but in some countries it’s called crop dusting.
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