By Sherri Blevins Students at North Sand Mountain in Ms. Jones’s High School Science Class explored careers in agriculture this week, and they experienced firsthand how drone technology is being used today to help farmers. According to Travel.com’s article, “The Benefits of Drones in Agribusiness,” agriculture technology – often called AgTech – is transforming the agriculture industry. Drones in agriculture have become a powerful tool for monitoring crops and livestock by delivering more expansive and higher resolution imagery and enabling more detailed data gathering.1 The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) first granted exemptions for drone use in agriculture in 2015.2 Since then, agricultural drones (or “ag” drones) have become more sophisticated, even using 3D imaging to estimate crop height.3 With the continued growth of precision agriculture, farming drones have become vital in operations since drones rely on information technology for management and decision-making. Agricultural drones allow farmers to monitor crop and livestock conditions from the air to monitor potential problems and help optimize field management. There are several functions that farmers and other agribusiness owners can use agricultural drone services for, including:
Land imaging
Surveying topography and boundaries
Soil monitoring
Livestock movement and counting
Irrigation monitoring
Spraying needs
Collecting soil and water samples
Troubleshooting Depending on the type of information or task required, various sensors, camera lenses, hooks, sprayers, and even small buckets to collect samples can be attached to drones.4 Data gathered by the drone streams back to a tablet or computer, providing useful information and photos about land, crops, and livestock. 5 The ag drone market grew to $1.2 billion in 2020, and analysts expect it to reach nearly $6 billion by 2025. Sources: 1 Drones: The Newest Technology for Precision Agriculture– https://pubag.nal.usda.gov/catalog/6678025 2 Federal Aviation Administration– https://www.faa.gov/newsroom/faa-grants-real-estate-agricultural-uas-exemptions 3 National Institute of Food and Agriculture – https://www.nifa.usda.gov/3-d-crop-imaging-helps-farmers-estimate-plant-height 4 National Institute of Food and Agriculture – https://www.nifa.usda.gov/using-drones-collect-water-samples 5 Agricultural Research Service – https://www.ars.usda.gov/oc/video/vnr/drones/ 6 Agriculture Drones Market – https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/agriculture-drones-market-23709764.html
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