The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) this week granted a regulatory exemption for unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) operations for agricultural applications.

The agency awarded the exemption to Advanced Aviation Solutions in Star, Idaho to use a fixed-wing eBee Ag UAS to make photographic measurements and perform crop scouting for precision agriculture. At the same tim, the agency gave an exemptions to Douglas Trudeau with Tierra Antigua Realty in Tucson, AZ – the first for real estate photography.

Before these exemption approvals, the FAA had granted 12 exemptions to 11 companies in a variety of industries.