National Corn Growers Association president Chip Bowling got a first-hand drone demo in his home state of Maryland last week. The demonstration was one of several educational tours for NCGA board members highlighting advances in technology and sustainability, as well as diversified farming operations. Bowling, left, got a lesson in flying an unmanned aerial system from Matthew Creger of Maryland-based … Read More
Live Drone Demo at Alltech Crop Science Day
Attendees of the recent Alltech Crop Science open day in Ireland were treated to a live drone demostration as part of the seminar that focused on increasing efficiencies on-farm with precision technology. Also highlighted was the importance of research trials, and global crop production practices, as well as a walkout to examine trial fields. “The Alltech Crop Science research program … Read More
Nova Scotia Firm Partners with PrecisionHawk
AerHyve Aerial Technologies specializes in analyzing data from UAVs for use in precision ag. This Nova Scotia based company has recently announced a partnership with world leaders in UAV remote sensing and GIS data processing-PrecisionHawk. By working together AerHyve customers will have access to PrecisionHawk’s hardware and software and AerHyve will gain exposer in an emerging market. “We value AerHyve … Read More
Agribotix Gets Grant for Ag Drone Data Work
A pioneer company in drone data collection and analysis has won a $250,000 award from Colorado’s Advanced Industry Program. Agribotix provides farmers with a cloud-based software platform for decoding data collected by drones to provide results intended to improve yields and reduce costs. The grant comes from the Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade, with the purpose of … Read More
FAA Announces UAS Center of Excellence
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) last week announced the selection of Alliance for System Safety of UAS through Research Excellence ASSURE, a consortium of universities headed by Mississippi State University (MSU), to lead the newly-designated FAA Center of Excellence for Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS COE). ASSURE is tasked with identifying issues critical to the integration of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) … Read More
Crop Analytics Plan wins MIT $100K
The ‘Granddaddy’ of all business plan competitions, the MIT $100K Entrepreneurship Competition, has selected a crop analytics business plan as the winner. The Robert P. Goldberg $100,000 grand prize winner was awarded to Raptor Maps – a startup drone technology business with the goal of feeding a growing world population. The team, consisting of three PhD candidates from MIT, beat … Read More
Company Receives Exemption to Fly Commercial UAVs
A Tuscan-based company, FVP CATALOG, has received a rare exemption from the FAA to fly UAVs for commercial purposes. The Section 333 exemption was granted to only 247 people in the country. FVP CATALOG owner Bruce Pogosaew spent six months in the complicated process and received it in part because of his willingness to venture into agriculture inspections if farmers begin … Read More
InterDrone – International Drone Conference
Now this looks like a place for an AgNerd! InterDrone – The International Drone Conference and Expo. It takes place in Las Vegas, September 9-11. Maybe I’ll see you there? That is, if I can go! Right now there is a call for speakers. If you would like to make a presentation at this conference, let them know. There is … Read More
Farm Bureau: Ag Could Really Soar with Drones
Farm Bureau says agricultural drones could really help farmers and ranchers soar to success. This news release says the group submitted comments to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) that focused on performance-based standards for the FAA’s rule on the “Operation and Certification of Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems.” “Drones are the next evolution in American agriculture,” said Dale Moore, AFBF executive … Read More
Drones Can Increase Efficiency of Farming
Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS), better known as drones, will make farming more efficient, lower operating costs, and reduce their environmental impact. That was the message from National Corn Growers Association Manager of Public Policy Clint Raine to a group of policymakers and reporters during a panel about the applications of UAS technology to the agricultural industry. “I’m optimistic about the … Read More