Farmers’ Use Of Drones Up In The Air

Agriculture experts see a coming together of many different technological advances that will apply to the farming industry.

Storm clouds are rising, so to speak.

In the ongoing conflict between conventional agriculture and emerging technologies, some innovations are finding favor while others confront hurdles.

Drones — unmanned aerial aircraft — represent one of the newest technologies available to those in the agriculture industry, yet their legal use is murky at best.

“All industries are very interested in how to apply that technology to their industries. Agriculture is no different,” said Andrew Grobmyer, executive vice president of the Agricultural Council of Arkansas. “From a regulatory standpoint, there is not clear guidance on what is the allowable use. We are waiting on the FAA [Federal Aviation Administration] to come up with rules and guidelines for usage.”

Drones no larger than a large pizza have the ability to fly over significant distances while recording photos or video. As the technology advances, drones will be able to use sensors recognizing insect and weed infestations, as well as nutrient deficiencies or saturations.

As of January, the FAA had approved a handful of waivers to private companies for drone use, including one permit to an Arizona real estate company and a Washington state company, Advanced Aviation Solutions, planning to use an aircraft for “crop scouting for precision agriculture.”

Those companies still face several regulatory hoops to jump through before launching their airborne operations. One of the requirements will be that the person piloting the aircraft must have at least an FAA Private Pilot certificate and medical certificate. Other requirements will mandate that both a pilot and observer be present when operating the aircraft and that the vehicle stay within line of sight of the pair.

The vehicles will be permissible under Section 333 of the FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012.

“There are some concerns about private landowner rights and trespassing issues, but to me, the benefits far outweigh the concerns,” Grobmyer said.

Grobmyer noted that a drone has multiple uses in regard to crop scouting.

“It’s not just imagery, but sensors to know where there may be plant bug pressure or water issues, weed pressure,” he said. “I think we can be able to identify where we are having issues there and find solutions that are more spot-based instead of applying chemicals to a large area. You can get that bird’s eye view and do so on your own time.”

Drone technology is only one example of blossoming agriculture technology. Sen. John Boozman said he encourages fewer regulatory roadblocks for existing technologies.

“We also need to focus on creating the type of business environment that attracts investment and opportunity to the region,” he said. “We can encourage growth and development by reducing the regulatory burdens needlessly imposed by the EPA that are hurdles to job creation. We need to improve transportation infrastructure to allow a better flow of goods. Developing broadband access is also a critical component to economic opportunity and improving public services.”

Grobmyer suggested that a perfect storm of hardware and software is brewing.

“We are kind of at a crossroads where all these advances are coming together — cloud-based computing, global positioning systems, broadband Internet, wi-fi — to allow this information to flow and the clouds to be able to store all this data.”

Farm-related technology advances usually involve a hardware component for every software development. For example, GPS software to allow an ag pilot to fertilize a field precisely needs the hardware component of the aircraft. Pipe Planner software is useless without the “hardware” component of the piping.

Universally, agriculture technology focuses on wringing efficiencies out of nearly all aspects of an operation, from best planting practices to optimum harvesting techniques.

“All of this is happening very fast and will continue to accelerate,” Grobmyer said. “Farming is a very data-driven business. You are trying to figure out how to plant and how to harvest in the most efficient way possible and to be able to look at it year over year over year.”

Though agriculture producers over the generations have relied on their wits to be successful, today’s farmer needs to navigate increasingly sophisticated technological waters.

“Farming is very much a business. Farmers don’t have to have an MBA, but they have to understand their farm operations as a business,” Grobmyer said. “Evolving and using the latest resources sometimes can be an experiment. Sometimes it doesn’t work, but in general, just as any business model shows you, you have to adopt new things and evolve to stay in business.”