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2021 UAS Ag Summit

AgrowDrone

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The third annual UAS Ag Summit will be held on Wednesday March 3rd and Thursday March 4th 2021!

This educational webinar will focus on helping farmers detect diseases and spray pesticides on crops using Unmanned Aircraft Systems. If you are a farmer interested in using drones on your farm or a drone operator interested in providing aerial services to farmers, this two day event is filled with 14 sessions with presentations given by University Professors and Industry Experts from around the country. Presentations will be 35-45 minutes long with the last 10-15 minutes of the session reserved for questions.

For the agenda, session details, presenters, and registration information, please visit 2021 UAS Ag Summit - Precision Agriculture Vehicles
 
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We are happy to announce the following states are providing recertification credits for this event:
AL, DE, FL, GA, IN, LA, MD, MI, NJ, NM, NY, OH, VA, VT as well as Certified Crop Advisors (CEUS).

We are still waiting to hear back on pending approvals from:
AZ*, CA*, NC*, OR*, PA*, SC*, and WA*

Registration is required to attend the webinar. Many thanks to all of you who have already signed up. Just a reminder that we are offering early bird registration discounts. More information is at 2021 UAS Ag Summit - USA made Drones for Agriculture
 
My family are all farmers and ranchers. I've looked at drones for spraying, just isn't practical at this point. I was a crop duster, Cessna 188. Problem is when you are looking at one or two thousand acres to dust I don't see any drone is up to the task. Now if you can turn my 188 into a drone that would work.
Crop health, some of the cooperate farms are interested, but most of the old timers are a very hard sell.
Up in the wine country (Napa Valley and Sonoma) I heard some of the smaller wine makers are using drones for crop health.
As for California, that's where we live, and when it comes to ag spraying they are a pain in the a.......
Our current governor is a San Francisco city boy that is clueless about the ag business other than the money it makes, and how he can tax it.
 
@R.Perry – Thank you for illuminating some of the many MISCONCEPTIONS that drone operators, farmers, and manned aircraft applicators (crop dusters) have regarding the use of drones in agriculture.

Misconception #1 - Wrong Tool for the Job
Just like you would not use a John Deere 9520 RX to mow a lawn, you would not use a drone to spray 1000 acres of grapes, wheat, corn, etc. Conversely, using a drone to spray 5 to 30 acres of a high value crop provides, in most cases, a better use case and a higher value proposition than a CaseIH Patriot® 4440 (spreading the big iron brands around so as not to offend!) or a Cessna 188 (or a Jet Ranger).

The current reality (in the under 55lb class of UAS) is that the niche for using drones to spray is limited to small to medium size farms (5 to 30 acres) growing high value crops (Grapes, Apples, Citrus, Berries, Tomatoes, etc) not 50 to 2000 acres of low value crops (wheat, corn, soybeans, etc)

Misconception #2 – Every Farmer Needs Drone Acquired Crop Health Maps
Why do you suppose pitching crop health maps (ie NDVI, counts, contours, etc) is such a “hard sell” to farmers? Could it be that there is a lower value proposition than the cost (ie outputs have minimal or no value to a farmer)?

The current reality (in the under 55lb class of UAS) is that using drones for crop health is also a very limited niche. And, there are competing and more integrated options for farmers to acquire, interpret, and execute a plan based on more real time micro level field data.

Misconception #3 – Government (Fed, State, Local) are out to prohibit Drone Use in Ag
Are there regulatory hurdles for using drones is Ag? Yes. Are the regulator hurdles even greater for using drones to spray? YES. Why do you suppose there are so many regulatory hurdles? One word - Safety.

The current reality (in all classes of UAS) is that using drones for spraying is illegal without the proper federal, state, and aircraft certifications. But the good news is that there is a clear (albeit complex) path to obtain the necessary certifications to conduct spraying missions with drones legally.

Misconception #4 – Just Because You can, You should
Could you spray 100+ acres with drones? Yes. Should you? If you do your due diligence (risk assessment, cost/benefit analysis, regulatory hurdles, etc), the logical answer is NO – there are better tools to get that kind of job done.

Can you use a drone with various (expensive!) sensors to generate crop health maps? Yes. Should you? Unless you can validate that someone is willing to pay you more than your costs (including labor/living wage) or that, as a farmer, it provides something that you can't get some other way for less cost, then the fiscally responsible answer is NO (or maybe yes if you are looking for a hobby).

And that same cost/benefit/risk analysis exercise should be the driver for other non ag use cases for drones (such as drone deliveries).

Margins in Ag are tight and growing crops is risky. Drone technologies looking to solve a problem will most likely flounder but problems that can be solved (better, faster, cheaper) with drones will thrive.

Best Use Cases (and how to use drones in Ag legally)
If drone operators, farmers, and manned aircraft application operators can get past these misconceptions, the 2021 UAS Ag Summit will be an opportunity to address other misconceptions and provide valuable information on compliance and the best use cases for drones in agriculture.
 
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You have done your homework. Our orchards are Walnuts and Almonds and you are right, the profit margin is getting smaller. California's water situation is another issue, but that is a different subject.
You are correct in that a ag drone is perfect for twenty to thirty acres, but twenty to thirty acres doesn't produce enough to live on no matter what have.
 
You have done your homework. Our orchards are Walnuts and Almonds and you are right, the profit margin is getting smaller. California's water situation is another issue, but that is a different subject.
You are correct in that a ag drone is perfect for twenty to thirty acres, but twenty to thirty acres doesn't produce enough to live on no matter what have.
You are in Cali.... perhaps 20-30 acres of cannabis / hemp will pay the bills?
You still have the water problem!

Just thinking out loud.
 
The boys growning cannabis here are walking on thin ice since it is still a federal crime.
Yes we do have water problem and most of it is because of Southern California wanting the water out of the the North.
The other issue is we have the stupidest politicians in the nation running this state.
There is a lot of farms now putting in ponds to raise the grown water level.
Were pulling water out of the rivers that would be normally slated for the aqueduct that transports water to LA.
Southern California should have put in desalinization plants many years ago.
Our Sierra snow pack determines water availability during spring and summer.
 
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Reactions: Rex
@R.Perry – Thank you for illuminating some of the many MISCONCEPTIONS that drone operators, farmers, and manned aircraft applicators (crop dusters) have regarding the use of drones in agriculture.

Misconception #1 - Wrong Tool for the Job
Just like you would not use a John Deere 9520 RX to mow a lawn, you would not use a drone to spray 1000 acres of grapes, wheat, corn, etc. Conversely, using a drone to spray 5 to 30 acres of a high value crop provides, in most cases, a better use case and a higher value proposition than a CaseIH Patriot® 4440 (spreading the big iron brands around so as not to offend!) or a Cessna 188 (or a Jet Ranger).

The current reality (in the under 55lb class of UAS) is that the niche for using drones to spray is limited to small to medium size farms (5 to 30 acres) growing high value crops (Grapes, Apples, Citrus, Berries, Tomatoes, etc) not 50 to 2000 acres of low value crops (wheat, corn, soybeans, etc)

Misconception #2 – Every Farmer Needs Drone Acquired Crop Health Maps
Why do you suppose pitching crop health maps (ie NDVI, counts, contours, etc) is such a “hard sell” to farmers? Could it be that there is a lower value proposition than the cost (ie outputs have minimal or no value to a farmer)?

The current reality (in the under 55lb class of UAS) is that using drones for crop health is also a very limited niche. And, there are competing and more integrated options for farmers to acquire, interpret, and execute a plan based on more real time micro level field data.

Misconception #3 – Government (Fed, State, Local) are out to prohibit Drone Use in Ag
Are there regulatory hurdles for using drones is Ag? Yes. Are the regulator hurdles even greater for using drones to spray? YES. Why do you suppose there are so many regulatory hurdles? One word - Safety.

The current reality (in all classes of UAS) is that using drones for spraying is illegal without the proper federal, state, and aircraft certifications. But the good news is that there is a clear (albeit complex) path to obtain the necessary certifications to conduct spraying missions with drones legally.

Misconception #4 – Just Because You can, You should
Could you spray 100+ acres with drones? Yes. Should you? If you do your due diligence (risk assessment, cost/benefit analysis, regulatory hurdles, etc), the logical answer is NO – there are better tools to get that kind of job done.

Can you use a drone with various (expensive!) sensors to generate crop health maps? Yes. Should you? Unless you can validate that someone is willing to pay you more than your costs (including labor/living wage) or that, as a farmer, it provides something that you can't get some other way for less cost, then the fiscally responsible answer is NO (or maybe yes if you are looking for a hobby).

And that same cost/benefit/risk analysis exercise should be the driver for other non ag use cases for drones (such as drone deliveries).

Margins in Ag are tight and growing crops is risky. Drone technologies looking to solve a problem will most likely flounder but problems that can be solved (better, faster, cheaper) with drones will thrive.

Best Use Cases (and how to use drones in Ag legally)
If drone operators, farmers, and manned aircraft application operators can get past these misconceptions, the 2021 UAS Ag Summit will be an opportunity to address other misconceptions and provide valuable information on compliance and the best use cases for drones in agriculture.
I am new to this forum and unsure if you still post here, but for a soon-to-be certificated ag drone pilot, your comments are so very helpful.

I live in a suburb of a large city, have no contacts with farmers but am so fascinated with using drones in agriculture. With newer drones available that claim to be capable of 'dusting' 50 acres/hour, it seems to me that larger farm operations could be serviced.

I can also see partnering with a manned ag operator...if they didn't turn up their nose at my equipment.

Thank you for your insight.
 

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