LONDON, Ohio — Farmers are using drones to improve efficiency.


What You Need To Know

  • According to the United States Department of Agriculture, drones can be applied to a variety of farming tasks

  • Some farmers are using drones in order to improve crop scouting results

  • The sensors and cameras that are attached to drones are combined with artificial intelligence to pinpoint improvement areas across acres of land 

Nate Douridas is the Farm Manager at The Ohio State University's Molly Caren Agricultural Center in London, Ohio.

Douridas said drone use allows farmers to rely on clear and specific data instead of forcing farmers to make informed guesses when replanting certain areas of a field or applying water, nutrients, etc.

"Especially with replanting. Right? That's a very hard decision for a lot of growers to make because we all want to have the picturesque, the most beautiful crop from end to end of the field that we can have. Sometimes it's an emotional decision to tear it up and replant or just walk away from it. With the technology we have now, we can buffer that emotion and we can make good, sound agronomic decisions," he said.

Evan Delk is the President of Integrated Ag Services

He and drone pilot Justin Vaughn assist farmers with drone use and crop scouting.

"We're using this drone technology to help farmers make better decisions," Delk said.

Within minutes, their drone and the cameras that are attached to it survey hundreds of acres of land, capturing high-resolution images, and combining ithem with artificial intelligence.

"It takes a wide picture and then it takes a close picture, which is where all of the real data comes from," Vaughn said.

That information is then converted it data that farmers, like Douridas, use to improve their crops and business.