LINCOLN - Clyde Zellers is drawn to help farmers, though not from any particular attraction to agriculture. While the rural Springfield man is not a farmer at heart, his love of aviation prompted him to become a part-time aerial applicator - commonly known as a crop duster - for Holzwarth Flying Service, which has a location in Lincoln. | Video | Photo gallery

Zellers propels his plane just above the corn and soybean fields in Central Illinois and applies fungicides and pesticides to ward off diseases or kill insects and other pests. It's an industry that's been around since World War I, especially in southern states like Texas and Louisiana, but the practice has only become more popular in the last few years, Zellers said.

"It's only now become more of a science," Zellers said. "Things have become more accurate. Things have become more detailed."

Zellers' full-time job is to fly airplanes for the state, and he also works part time at air shows. His desire to try yet another facet of the aviation industry led him to his first spraying season and a time when farmers need his help.

Central Illinois farmers are looking for a lot of little problems, but the bug that has gotten the most attention so far is the Japanese beetle, said Dan Patten, assistant vice president and farm manager with Soy Capital Ag Services in Bloomington. Most spraying in bean fields is done on the ground with a sprayer or tractor, but farmers rely more on airplane applications for corn fields, Patten said.

The Japanese beetle can eat soybean plants' leaves, which give the crop energy to grow and set pods. They also feed off the silk in the corn crop, which will prevent pollination and kernel development, therefore cutting into the farmer's yields, Patten said.

Zellers has been busy applying fungicides and recently started some insecticides to attack those Japanese beetles in corn fields. The fungicide applications increase the health of the crop by stifling fungus that could grow in the wet conditions while pesticides ward off or kill insects or organisms.

"When pests attack a field, it's almost like it's on fire," Zellers said. "(Farmers) want it done in a hurry."

The population of Japanese beetles has been heavy for the past couple of years as the bugs continue to move west for some reason, Patten said. Even people in town likely have noticed them in their bushes and trees, he said. The insects are in almost every farmer's field, but the question is whether or not it's bad enough to treat, Patten said.

From what he's seen, farmers are monitoring the corn crop but haven't resorted to spraying yet. He has seen limited spraying for the beetles in soybean fields, more in the southeastern McLean County than to the west.

"For the most part, they just need to keep looking to make sure they don't get worse," Patten said.

Farmer Matt Hughes of Shirley definitely doesn't want a problem in corn fields.

Hughes has sprayed the edges of soybean fields with a ground application and has already relied on crop dusters for some corn fields. Other insect populations are down this year, but the increased infestation of Japanese beetles in corn fields is happening right in the middle of the critical pollination period, he said.

"This is when they can do the most damage in the corn field," Hughes said.