14 Ate Today? Thank a Farmer. Better Farming | August 2024 DRONES: A NEW PERSPECTIVE Drones have been creating a lot of buzz in agriculture for over a decade now. Most of the machines were initially purchased for entertainment, but their uses have evolved over time, earning them a reputation for making farming easier. “There’s been an interesting transformation of drones being used in ag,” says Andres Hurtado, co- founder of TerraNova UAV. “I would say eight to 10 years ago, drones had just started to appear. Everyone wanted to have a drone back then, but then we saw it starting to die down. Farmers who are spending most of the day planting or spraying don’t have as much time to fly drones, and what we saw was, after two or three flights, they were gathering dust in a closet. “Now we are seeing opportunity in spraying. Drones are gaining popularity, but we are still waiting to see market uptake to know if farmers are willing to buy this brand-new piece of equipment that works different than a ground sprayer and requires additional training.” While technology has advanced, at this stage drones are unlikely to replace field-scale equipment on the ground. Instead, these machines are filling in the gaps where large equipment can’t or shouldn’t access. “Things are improving but are not there yet,” says Jason Deveau, application technology specialist at OMAFA and co-administrator of Sprayers 101. He emphasizes that improvements and research are still needed to ensure efficacy and safety with spray drones. “There are definitely opportunities. These things fly – they can go where traditional equipment can’t and go where some poor person in a backpack sprayer and Tyvek suit would be exposed. When push comes to shove, spot spraying, places that are unsuited or dangerous for spraying, or perennial horticulture crops are where the big opportunities are in agriculture for drones.” With refinement, drones can allow farmers to manage some of their acres better. “I see it as a very specialized cusFILLING IN THE GAPS & ‘OPENING NEW AVENUES.’ DRONES: HOW CAN THEY MAKE FARMING EASIER? By EMILY CROFT TerraNova UAV photo
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