A WETTER than average winter has meant helicopters spreading fertiliser are a regular sight in the skies of Corangamite Shire.
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Otway Helicopters owners Sandra and Rob Martin said dairy farmers had been putting them to work spreading mostly urea since the first week of June.
Mrs Martin said it was three weeks earlier than normal with the work set to continue until Christmas.
"We're absolutely flat out, we can't scratch ourselves," she said.
Mrs Martin said they currently ran two AS350 helicopters and were looking at buying another to keep up with the strong demand.
She said if a property wasn't close to an airfield it was usually cheaper to use a helicopter.
"There's not that many land strips for planes and once you get 10-15km from an airfield it's cheaper than a plane," she said.
"We use a Eurocopter AS350 B2 Squirrel, which is a single-engine light utility helicopter. It's not just a passenger helicopter, it's a real work horse and built to lift.
"The main reason farmers use us is because they don't want to do any damage when taking tractors through their pastures.
"It's a wet climate in the Western District of Victoria so there's a lot of rain in the wintertime, meaning softer ground.
"If you send a tractor through that paddock to spread fertiliser, you're looking at damage to the soil from wheel marks and an overall loss of production. Aerial spreading takes that completely out of the equation."
Mrs Martin said in the morning they send the trucks filled with fertiliser to the farms they are servicing that day.
"Then we need to transfer the fertiliser into the bucket that will hang from the helicopter," she said.
"It has to be the exact amount required per hectare, so it's really important we get it right.
"When Rob flies in we have everything ready to go.
"We use a 'hook and go' solution so it's a quick turnaround from landing to take off."
Mrs Martin said they had been running the business for about 26 years and had maintained strong relationships with local farming families.
"We've seen their kids grow up and they've seen ours," she said.
"But we have also been fortunate enough to work with new clients and we hope that continues.
"We love working with farmers.
"Other helicopters are more for passenger and tourism work.
"We're strictly agriculture and farming. We've been doing a lot in Ecklin, Dixie and around Simpson.
"We know what work we've got in front of us for eight weeks
"Every four to five weeks farms are done again on rotation."
Mrs Martin said the increases in the prices for parts had rose while fuel costs had improved.
"Fuel costs have softened a little," she said.
"But costs for parts has sky rocketed."
