December 18, 2015
CapitalPress.com
13
Drone use in ag increasing, but lack
of FAA rules slowing technology
By SEAN ELLIS
Capital Press
NAMPA, Idaho — The
use of drones in commercial
agricultural is beginning to
rapidly increase.
But the Federal Aviation
Administration’s lack of per-
manent rules for unmanned
aerial vehicles is slowing
development of the technol-
ogy, Ron Looney, chief pilot
of Empire Unmanned told a
couple hundred people at the
Idaho-Eastern Oregon Seed
Association’s winter meet-
ing Dec. 2.
Empire Unmanned in Jan-
uary became the first com-
pany in the United States to
receive an FAA exemption
to fly UAVs for commercial
agricultural uses.
The Idaho business used
drones to image 10,584
acres in 84 fields for 39 cus-
tomers in 2015, Looney said.
Those customers included
farmers and researchers and
the crops imaged included
wheat, onions, alfalfa, sugar
beets, corn and grapes.
The company charges
about $4 an acre, with a 150-
acre minimum.
“We started out slow and
are getting bigger all the
time,” Looney told Capital
Press. “We think it’s going
to be a big deal.”
For now, Looney said,
the main benefit of drones
in agriculture is providing
farmers a quick assessment
of crop health. This allows
a farmer to make replanting
decisions quickly, estimate
yields, monitor nitrogen up-
date, and see where a crop is
stressed or where there are
weed or disease issues.
“It also helps with insur-
ance claims so you can show
your insurance company ex-
AP Photo/Alex Brandon
In this June 11 photo, a DJI Phantom 3 drone is flown by Matthew
Creger, marketing director for Intelligent UAS, during a drone
demonstration in Cordova, Md. The Federal Aviation Administration
says nearly all drones must be registered on a new website.
FAA to require most drones
to be registered, marked
By TOM KRISHER
Associated Press
Sean Ellis/Capital Press
Ag industry representatives ask Empire Unmanned employee Gary Smith about the use of drones
for agricultural purposes April 22 following a demonstration flight over Bitner Vineyards in Caldwell,
Idaho. Empire’s chief pilot told seed industry members recently that drone use by farmers is increasing
rapidly but development of the technology is being slowed by the lack of permanent FAA rules.
actly where the crop damage
is,” he said.
But Looney and North
Idaho farmer Robert Blair,
vice president of agriculture
for Measure LLC, a com-
mercial drone company, said
the FAA’s lack of permanent
rules for UAVs is hindering
further development of the
technology for farming pur-
poses.
Any legal commercial
drone use right now is being
done under an FAA exemp-
tion. If any farmer or rancher
uses a drone as part of their
operation, they are no longer
a hobbyist and need an FAA
exemption. They also have
to have a commercial pilot’s
license.
A drone can only be flown
within line of sight, which
is about half a mile, Looney
said, and they can’t be flown
within 500 feet of a non-par-
ticipant.
“That’s a pretty good re-
striction,” he said. “The re-
strictions from FAA are also
restricting the development
of the technology.”
The FAA this year re-
leased proposed rules on
drone use for public com-
ment and permanent rules
could be in place next year,
said Blair, an early pioneer
of drone use on farms.
Once the FAA has perma-
nent rules in place, he said,
“you will see more research
being done and we will see
more use of this technolo-
gy.”
“I am excited about the
technology,” Blair said.
“Farmers are going to bene-
fit from (UAVs).”
Right now, drone use in
agriculture is pretty much
limited to assessing crop
condition, he said, but using
UAVs to apply chemicals
will happen eventually.
“That application part is
going to take some time but
it is the natural evolution
on the agricultural side of
things,” Blair said. “In my
lifetime, you will probably
see crop duster sized UAVs.”
Spurred by numerous re-
ports of drones flying near
jets and airports, the federal
government has decided to
require that the aircraft be
registered in order to make it
easier to identify their owners
and educate amateur aviators.
The move, announced
Monday by the Federal Avi-
ation Administration, comes
at a time when the agency is
receiving more than 100 re-
ports per month about drones
flying near manned aircraft.
The FAA prohibits drones
and model airplanes from
flying higher than 400 feet or
within 5 miles of an airport.
Drones have become in-
creasingly popular with hob-
byists. The FAA estimates that
1.6 million small unmanned
aircraft will be sold this year,
with half during the last three
months of the year. The agen-
cy said the registration re-
quirement would let author-
ities track down unmanned
aircraft owners if they violate
the rules. But it also gives the
agency a vehicle to educate
owners just as thousands get
drones as presents for Christ-
mas and other holidays.
Most people who fly
drones and model aircraft
have little aviation experi-
ence, but they become pilots
as soon as they start to fly,
said Deputy FAA Administra-
tor Michael Whitaker. “They
have the responsibility to fly
safely, and there are rules
and regulations that apply to
them,” he said.
The requirement cov-
ers aircraft weighing from
just over a half pound to 55
pounds. Drone owners who
are 13 and older will have to
register on an FAA website
that becomes available start-
ing Dec. 21. The FAA expects
parents to register for younger
children.
Registration will cost $5,
but the fee will be waived for
the first 30 days, until Jan.
20. Owners will have to mark
aircraft with an identification
number. They can register as
many aircraft as they want on
one registration number.
Those who got drones be-
fore Dec. 21 must register by
Feb. 19. People who buy them
later must register before their
first outdoor flight.
Bayer CropScience chief executive officer addresses challenges facing agriculture
Blome recommends
using social media to
reach consumers
By MATTHEW WEAVER
Capital Press
KENNEWICK, Wash. — U.S.
agriculture faces challenges from
a tougher regulatory environment
and consumers who know little
about farming, the head of Bay-
er CropScience in North America
says.
It’s now basically standard
operating procedure to expect le-
gal challenges under the Endan-
gered Species Act when register-
ing genetically modified seeds
or new crop protection technol-
ogy, Jim Blome, president and
CEO of Bayer CropScience in
North Carolina, told the Far West
Agribusiness Association winter
meeting.
Matthew Weaver/Capital Press
Bayer CropScience president and chief executive officer Jim Blome delivers the
keynote address at the Far West Agribusiness Association winter meeting Dec. 9
in Kennewick, Wash.
“We must use new technology
to drive higher yields, and yet the
barriers to new technology in food
production have never been high-
er,” Blome said.
The new regulatory environ-
ment means higher overall costs
and less new technology to create
efficiencies, Blome said.
More of the budget that had
been used to research new dis-
coveries is now going toward
maintaining older products in the
marketplace, he said. While the
industry stresses the importance
of alternative modes of action in
pesticides to manage resistance,
a new mode of chemical action
hasn’t been introduced in the
marketplace in nearly a decade,
Blome said.
Blome also urged the industry
to embrace the young farmers rep-
resenting in the millennial gener-
ation. The second fastest-growing
segment of farmers falls between
the ages of 25 and 34, Blome
said.
According to a recent Purdue
University study, 60,000 new agri-
cultural jobs will be created in the
next five years. In animal science,
90 percent of students come from
an urban background, Blome said.
Blome said the industry faces
slower acceptance of agricultural
technology from consumers who
lack a farming background. Blome
pointed to the perceived distrust of
production agriculture, informa-
tion overload and misinformation.
He urged the industry to com-
municate more efficiently through
social media to address consumer
concerns.
“We have young people who
are absolutely enamored with new
technology — they will wait in
three-block lines for the newest,
greatest version of an iPhone,
and yet those same people will
talk about how they would rather
have their food produced (using)
a pair of mules,” Blome said.
“We’re seeing more emotional
decision-making versus sound
science (or) decisions based on
fact.”
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