Having a few hundred hours in an ag plane will certainly "help" with the insurance. You could probably get your foot in the door somewhere if you had those hours. The big thing about this though is that if you are just riding around, you really aren't learning the ropes of the business. That is why I say to get with an established operator and learn the business from the ground up. I read somewhere in the last few days that a student was killed this week in Ag Flight's 301 over in Bainbridge Georgia. Also saw where another student died in North Carolina. I don't know any details other than it is tragic. Probably young guys trying to get started in this. I'm really sorry for their families.