Bins On Airstrips Have Key Role

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31089, 18 June 1966, Page 8

Bins On Airstrips Have Key Role

Now more than half the superphosphate spread in New Zealand is distributed from the air. Mr P. F. H. Rowley, of Amberley, president of the Aviation Industry Association of New Zealand, said this week that in the year to the end of March aerial distribution had exceeded a million tons, and now represented 52 per cent of the total distribution.

I Last week, with Mr M. G. I Hewitt from Federated j Fanners, Mr Rowley went 'from a meeting of the reactivated and expanded Fed- ! erated Farmers’ aviation liaison committee to see the Minister of Agriculture (Mr Taiboys) with submissions aimed at increasing the efficiency of the aerial topdressing industry in the general interests of increasing agricultural production in New Zealand. This was an outcome in the first place of a request from the Agricultural Production Council to the agricultural j aviation advisory committee, a sub-committee of the Soil Conservation and Rivers Control Council, to examine the ability of the industry to help farmers meet the production targets set by the Agricultural Development Conference for achievement by 1972. This committee in itself did not feel capable of giving the answer to this question in that this involved people in a long chain back to the manufacturer of the fertiliser. So the Federated Farmers aviation liaison committee has been reactivated and in addition other interested parties have been brought into the deliberations, such as the new Zealand fertiliser merchant distributors, the New Zealand Road Transport Alliance and the New Zealand Railways. Most important, representation is also being sought from the manufacturers as the initial providers of superphosphate. The keypoint of the submissions to the minister is the need for the provision of weatherproof storage bins for fertiliser on farm airstrips. It is felt that these could result in a chain reaction right down through the various parties associated in the handling of fertiliser for

ultimate aerial distribution, to the mutual advantage of all .concerned. This could result in an improved, more efficient and also more economic service to the farmer as the end user, through such factors as the more economical use of railway rolling stock and transport operators’ vehicles. The submissions to Mr Talboys said that the provision of these bins could have the greatest influence on alleviat ing problems which extend throughout the chain from the manufacture of the fertiliser to its actual sowing. It is felt that the provision of bins will ensure that fertiliser will be kept dry at all times so that it can be legally sown by aircraft. Mr Rowley points out here that under the authority from the Civil Aviation Administration, under which agricultural aircraft operate, they must be able to jettison their load in five seconds and this can only be complied with if the fertiliser is dry. The provision of bins means that the fertiliser can be moved by transport and stored before the start of the busy season and at a time when farmers can take advantage of any discounts applying outside the main seasons.

Thus Mr Rowley noted that last summer between October and Mid - January Kempthorne, Prosser’s had allowed a rebate of 10s a ton on bulk deliveries exceeding four tons and in addition the Railways Department had allowed a rebate on 100 ton lots delivered in the Christ-mas-New Year period. Similarly at times in certain districts aerial operators had offered reduced rates for sowing in the off-season. Carriers would be able to move fertiliser to airstrips more at their convenience and outside their peaks, thus per-

mitting a better use of their resources and provision of a better service. Also railway demurrage charges could be avoided and carriers would not be faced with the problem of fertiliser becoming wet during delivery. Railway waggons too would be turned round more quickly, allowing greater utilisation of rolling stock.

It has been suggested that the Railways Department might take a more liberal view of demurrage conditions and that these charges should not be applicable until the whole of a shipment has arrived and that there should be recognition of weather conditions and the need to keep fertiliser dry. In these circumstances, if there is some freedom to choose the time of delivery to airstrips, access tracks and weather conditions will be less critical.

By spreading the delivery of fertiliser in this way operators expect that a more consistent mature product should be available and this should allow them to operate with full pay loads.

In the submissions it is noted that manufacturers must undoubtedly have stocks on hand to provide for the demand for fertiliser and the suggestion is now that some proportion of its storage should be at the point of use on the farm airstrip. Therefore to encourage the farmer to provide for and take delivery of some fertiliser be-

fore sowing, involving him in financial outlay, it is suggested that representations should be made to manufacturers to allow credit on such deliveries for 90 days in recognition of the help they are receiving in the holding of fertiliser stocks.

It is pointed out that farmers and operators in particular would need guidance on the periods over which fertilisers, including mixtures, could safely be held in bins. Commenting on proposals for a major effort to encourage and educate farmers in the importance of having bins, Mr Rowley said that local aerial operators would be the people who could advise farmers in the first place as to the size of bins they would need in relation to their usage of fertiliser, the location of the bin in relation to the airstrip loading area, the various types of bin construction, and also the approximate cost of these bins.

It is also hoped that measures to co-ordinate the timing and scope of any rebates made to farmers might also lead to encouragement of some off-season sowing by operators. It is also suggested that manufacturers should be encouraged to provide and own railhead storage facilities. As yet in the South Island provision of bin storage on strips is still in its relative infancy. Mr Rowley said this week that out of about 1000 clients his company had in Canterbury, Westland and Nelson only about 20 had such bins, but it was true to say that in the last year more interest had been shown in the construction of bins on airstrips than ever before and more.bins had been built than in the 16 years since the inception of the industry. At the same time, he said, there was also a greatly increased interest in the construction of good farm airstrips, to the extent that four farmers he knew had engaged

contractors with heavy earth moving machinery to do the job. This question is also the subject of submissions to Mr Talboys. “The need to impress on farmers the necessity for the maintenance, fencing and removal of stock from strips is vital,” says the statement. “Reducing the incidence of accidents through these causes and the more efficient operations possible without these hazards will be to the farmers’ advantage also. We must be conscious of the fact that it is not beyond Civil Aviation authority to make some, or all, of these measures mandatory. Farmer understanding and co-opera-tion can avoid such steps and all that they imply. “Many operators are also

becoming increasingly perturbed about the proliferation of power lines. We believe it should be the duty of farmers with their local knowledge to brief pilots on this growing hazard.” Apart from some of those on demurrage, the submissions were adopted by the liaison committee before submission to the Minister, and now that a national policy has been adopted on matters affecting the future functioning of the industry, arrangements have been made for the necessary contacts at district level between Federated Farmers, the Aviation Industry Association, the Road Transport Alliance, fertiliser merchant distributors and the railways to help make progress at that level.