Skip to content
i2E
  • Programs
    • E3
    • ACT Tulsa
    • Love’s Entrepreneur’s Cup
    • OKBio
  • Client Portfolio
  • Services
    • Access to Funding
    • Venture Advisory Services
  • About
    • Our Values
    • Meet Our Team
    • Board of Directors
    • Corporate Partners
  • Contact
  • Media
  • Programs
    • E3
    • ACT Tulsa
    • Love’s Entrepreneur’s Cup
    • OKBio
  • Client Portfolio
  • Services
    • Access to Funding
    • Venture Advisory Services
  • About
    • Our Values
    • Meet Our Team
    • Board of Directors
    • Corporate Partners
  • Contact
  • Media
Search

Farmers’ interest in using drones takes off

Get in Touch

By Mary Clare Jalonick

Courtesy The Associated Press

CORDOVA, Md. — Mike Geske wants a drone.

Watching a flying demonstration on Maryland’s Eastern Shore, the Missouri farmer envisions using an unmanned aerial vehicle to monitor his farm’s irrigation pipes — a job he pays three men to do.

“The savings on labor and fuel would just be phenomenal,” Geske said, watching  a  drone hover over a nearby corn field and transmitting detailed pictures to an iPad.

Nearby, farmer Chip Bowling tries flying one of the drones. Bowling, president of the National Corn Growers Association, said he would like one for his Maryland farm to help him scout fields that need extra spraying.

Another farmer, Bobby Hutchison, says he is hoping the man he hires weekly to observe his crops gets a drone, to make the process more efficient and accurate.

“I see it very similar to how I saw the computer when it first started,” says Hutchison, 64. “It was a no-brainer.”

The small, relatively inexpensive drones could transmit detailed information about crops to combines and sprayers, directing them to problem spots and cutting down on the  water and chemicals that a farmer needs to use.

The Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International, a trade group, says agriculture could account for 80 percent of all commercial drone use. The Federal Aviation Administration has approved more than 50 exemptions for farm-related operations since January.

Companies with those exemptions say business has grown.

Bret Chilcott of Kansas-based AgEagle, which sells unmanned aerial vehicles and the software to operate them, said his company has a backlog of several hundred orders.

“Last year, users had to land their aircraft and then take the data to the computer,” he says. “Now the data appears on your iPad or hand-held device a few minutes after flight.”

That data could be pictures, 3-D images of plants, thermal readings or other observations from the air. Chilcott is optimistic that the technology will be transformative.

“In five years we won’t have to blanket a field with chemicals,” he said.

Still, most farmers cannot legally fly the vehicles yet. The FAA is working on rules to allow the drones to be used. An FAA proposal this year would allow drones that weigh less than 55 pounds, stay within the operator’s sight and fly during the day, among other restrictions. Operators would have to pass an FAA test and a Transportation Security Administration background check.

However, pilots of crop dusters and other planes that operate around farms fear the rules do not go far enough.

“We can’t see them,” said Andrew Moore of the National Agricultural Aviation Association. His group asked for trackers or lights on drones to help airplanes avoid them, but that was not included in the plan.

Read the story at the Oklahoman website (subscription required)

  • admin
    admin

More News

Loading...
Black doctor smiling with stethoscope
Blog, i2E
02.09.23

Titan Intake Automates Patient Referrals to Accelerate Care

Read more
man and woman reviewing paperwork at a table
Blog, i2E, News
01.10.23

Stories of Oklahoma Innovation: Building a Startup

Read more
woman in lab conducting a study
Blog, i2E
12.13.22

Bayesic Technologies Improves Effectiveness and Efficiency of Data Analysis in Healthcare

Read more
Bison grazing fields
Blog
11.30.22

Bison Underground Merges Nature, Science, and Technology to Tackle Climate Change

Read more
African American family sitting on couch reading and chatting
Blog, E3, i2E
11.22.22

Fokes Connects Families, Caregivers and Care Agencies for Smoother Communications and Care 

Read more
i2e blog post graphic
Blog, News
11.03.22

Introducing: Stories of Oklahoma Innovation

Read more
Default Featured Image
OKBio
06.28.22

Oklahoma Grown! i2E Invests in BIO startups

Read more
Default Featured Image
OKBio
06.13.22

Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation BIO

Read more
Default Featured Image
OKBio
06.13.22

Moleculera Labs BIO

Read more
Default Featured Image
OKBio
06.13.22

University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center BIO

Read more
Default Featured Image
OKBio
06.13.22

Oklahoma State University BIO

Read more
Default Featured Image
OKBio
06.13.22

ECHO Investment Capital BIO

Read more
i2E

Oklahoma City Office

840 Research Parkway, Suite 250
OKC, OK 73104
+1 (405) 235.2305

Tulsa Office

100 S. Cincinnati Ave – Suite 514
Tulsa, OK 74103
+1 (918) 582.5592

  • Client Portfolio
  • About Us
  • Media
  • Events
  • Contact
  • Resources

© 2022 i2E Privacy Policy

Follow us:

Facebook Twitter Linkedin

Programs

  • E3
  • ACT Tulsa
  • Love's Entrepreneur's Cup
  • OKBio
  • Client Portfolio

Services

  • Access to Funding
  • Venture Advisory Services
  • Contact
  • About
  • Our Values
  • Our Team
  • Board of Directors
  • Corporate Partners
  • Media
i2E