Take That, Red Baron

In Virginia, drones or Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) are being used to collect fusarium spores and other microbes just above field levels. In California, they have been used to evaluate water stress, which translates into labor, water and energy savings. Everywhere in between, crop consultants, growers and others are waiting to see how they will change agriculture.

Even though UAV use in the U.S. is still restricted to researchers and government agencies, with some allowance for individual property owners, change is in the air. Drones will soon be commonplace in American agriculture. All that is stopping it are FAA restrictions on commercial operation in the U.S. New rules are expected later this year that may allow operation of small systems at low altitudes for agricultural use.

"The first group to be targeted will be police and emergency responders," said Rory Paul, Volt Aerial Robotics. "With 50,000 police departments, they are the Holy Grail for UAV companies. Once that is accomplished, we will see companies targeting agriculture."

UAVs ADOPTED WORLDWIDE

Some agricultural companies are warming up their engines already, so to speak. Trimble recently purchased Gatewing, a Belgium maker of UAVs and developer of image processing and delivery software. Four years ago, Monsanto purchased EarthMap Solutions, with its remote sensing technology that measures chlorophyll content and plant health. AutoCopter Corporation has developed technology that flies, captures data and creates GeoTIFF (GPS referenced) files in the air while operators view the high definition video live through media glasses. Files are immediately converted to distortion-free ortho maps (geometrically corrected or orthorectified).

Unmanned aerial vehicles, or drones, will eventually be commonplace in American agriculture and will benefit crop consultants. CropCam and its parent company MicroPilot, maker of autopilot systems for UAVs, is a Canadian company actively marketing low cost UAVs. The CropCam system includes a controlled model glider with a miniature autopilot, camera, Trimble GPS and software to provide images on demand. Several hundred systems have been sold in Canada and abroad.

"Our original idea was to market it in agriculture for fertilizer and pesticide management in crops; hence the name," said Pierre Pepin, vice president, MicroPilot. "However, our customers have found a multitude of other uses, including checking power lines for bird nests and estimating the volume of gravel in stockpiles. People see what it was created for, but realize it can do other things as well."

Paul is a UAV consultant and one of many frustrated UAV entrepreneurs. He suggested that such business activities and innovations are just a sample of what will happen when FAA rules are released. He has worked with UAVs for the past seven years, consults with several academic institutions and is working on a low cost UAV system that would be leased to users rather than owned.

"The inability to operate commercially has stifled innovation," he said. "In Canada and Australia, we already see service providers working with farmers, initially with large agricultural concerns, but it has quickly trickled down to individual, large scale farmers acquiring a small UAV. UAVs have been used in Japan for the past 10 years. They even use them to crop dust small rice paddies."

AG COLLEGE INTEREST

One segment that is rapidly ramping up involvement in UAVs are colleges, large and small. They range from the likes of Northland Community College, Thief River Falls, Minn., with an existing program in Aviation Maintenance to the neighboring University of North Dakota (UND) with its internationally known pilot training programs.

"UND has students in the classrooms on simulators, which are like the iPads and laptops they will use to actually fly in the field," explained Tom Kenville, co-founder of the Unmanned Applications Institute (UAI) International, a North Dakota non-profit founded to develop the unmanned aerospace industry in that state. North Dakota is one of two dozen states hoping to secure designation as an FAA approved UAV test site.

"These are exciting times," he said. "UAVs are expected to double the size of the current aviation industry. Our mission is to work with schools and companies and grow the industry."

An AutoCopter is an early example of an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). UAVs are anticipated to be approved for use by crop consultants and retailers. The FAA is expected to make a decision later this year. UAI is also involved with others outside North Dakota and even the upper Midwest. Nearly a year ago, UAI joined a Dayton, Ohio based initiative specifically to develop and market UAV technology for agriculture. Partners include Goodrich, a Minnesota based company, already manufacturing UAVs and the University of Dayton led Institute for Development and Commercialization of Advanced Sensor Technology. Sensor development will focus around evaluating crop damage, identifying infestations and soil conditions.

The joint effort made sense to Kenville. "They are strong in sensor development, and we are real strong in operations in North Dakota," he said.