President's Message

As I sat in my hotel room in Ft Worth during the 2009 TAAA Conference, thinking of the past presidents of our association and all of the people who have been instrumental to the success of our occupation, I realized that it is going to be a big challenge to fill those shoes of those great leaders before me. Our past presidents and board members have stepped up to the plate when they were needed and somehow always got the job done, whatever they were called to do. They have selflessly given their time and energy to the betterment of our association. It has been very touching to me to be a part of a group of people that come together from all stretches of this state to contribute to something we all have in common, our state association. I feel like we are a family in a way, and now I am beginning to understand the strong flow of emotions we see at the banquet every year. It makes me very proud and honored to be taking on a larger role in this big family.

I can remember back when I first started coming to the TAAA Conference. Dad and I would come up and visit with our fellow pilots and operators, go out to eat, go to our classes, go to the bar, and when the conference was over, we would go back home. My first conference as an ag-pilot was eighteen years ago. Man how time flies! My conference routine has somewhat changed since 1990, but my favorite part is still visiting with everyone. Between a couple of board meetings and taking care of routine conference business, there is still enough time for plenty of socializing with old friends.

This year's conference has been very successful in several ways. Attendance is higher than it has been in the past several years with pilots, operators and exhibitors. In addition, the WTAAA took over the year's auction and they did a great job of organizing it. These hard working women also started a scholarship fund last year. Congratulations to the first-ever winners of this scholarship, Cody Murphree and Brent Whitefield. I would like to personally thank everyone who came to Ft Worth and supported our association. It must have been tough for those people who were at the last Ft Worth Conference to come back without a cringe, but God blessed our stay this time with beautiful weather and good fellowship.

During this coming year, several critical changes that affect ag-flying operations will occur. These changes have been in the works for years, and are finally coming to fruition, thanks to all the hard work of present and former board members.  If you attended, these things were mentioned but I would like to re-cap this year's agenda. First, we are working on ag-aircraft sales tax legislation. As some of us have found out, tax laws can be interpreted in different ways. We are trying to clarify our status as agricultural in everything we do with our planes. Chris Shields and his staff have already made progress with this issue with one of our members, but we still have so much more to achieve before we are finished. Second, TDA slightly amended our re-certification requirements in that we must have one hour of human factors and drift to renew our aerial applicators license each year. We will be required to get this CEU this year to be eligible for renewal in 2010. In order to accommodate this new rule, TAAA is sponsoring two more sessions of PAASS this year. The first session will be in Lubbock in the spring. The second session will be in Corpus Christi in the fall. Hopefully this will make it possible for everyone to comply.

Congratulations to Scott Nolen for a great year and a wonderful time in Ft Worth. I hope everyone has a safe and busy year. I look forward to seeing everyone in Bastrop next year.

Will

New CEU Guidelines

The Texas Department of Agriculture recently revised its CEU requirements for aerial applicators seeking to renew their license. Effective on January 1, 2009, three of the five required CEU’s must be associated with aerial application operations, and must include one hour each in laws and regulations, drift minimization, and pesticide safety activities addressing human factors. (Rule 7.24(t) in the Agriculture section on the Texas Administrative Code). TAAA strongly supports this rule change. We believe that this change will help save lives and reduce property damage from accidents.

PAASS meets the new CEU Requirements

PAASS was developed by the National Agricultural Aviation Research & Education Foundation to educate pilots on key safety and drift minimization issues important to flying, modern agriculture and crop protection. The primary PAASS Program goals are to reduce the number of aviation accidents and drift incidents associated with the aerial application of fertilizer and crop protection products. Some insurance companies provide a discount for operators whose pilots complete the PAASS program. Please visit www.agaviation.org/paasspage.htm for more details on the PAASS Program. 

TAAA Members Promotion

For every gallon of surfactant purchaced, AgPro Systems and The Soil Man will donate $1.00 to the WTAAA Scholarship Fund.  Please click here for further company and product information