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\nA drone conference in Alabama scheduled for February 26-29 will highlight the role of UAVs in \u201cprecision\u201d agriculture \u2013 a rapidly growing field that features drones equipped with advanced sensors that spray seeds, fertilizer and pesticides to targeted areas of a farm to maximize crop yields.<\/p>\n
The organizer of the conference, Steve Li, is a weed scientist with the Alabama Cooperative Extension System which is based at Alabama A&M and Auburn universities. He\u2019s widely considered one of the leading U.S. pioneers in the field, with numerous awards and research grants,\u00a0 including commodity grants from Alabama Farmers Federation, the National Peanut Board and <\/span>companies in\u00a0the crop protection industry<\/span>, including Bayer and\u00a0Syngenta.<\/p>\n Last year, Li\u2019s research team conducted a whirlwind of drone research worldwide: 100 field trials and 42 live-drone demonstrations which reached more than 150,000 people across 25 countries and six continents.<\/p>\n \u201cThree years ago, we began working with drones and precision technologies,\u201d Li says.\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cNow, we are heavily focused on delivering crop protection chemicals \u2014 including herbicide, fungicides and insecticides \u2014 as well as other chemicals that farmers typically use on the farm with these new technologies.\u201d<\/p>\n Research has shown that farm drones can provide a comprehensive map of a farm to detect areas of maximum soil fertility as well as crop stress.\u00a0 Using the map the drones can be programmed to apply farm inputs in precise measures and locations to have the maximum effect on crop growth.<\/p>\n Drone operations are not only faster and more accurate than traditional field survey methods, but they also conduct the work with fewer carbon emissions than conventional aircraft and road vehicles and with less risk of physical injury to field workers and pilots.<\/p>\n Other drone advantages are ease of storage and transport and reduced repair and maintenance costs<\/p>\n \u201cDrones are much less expensive than ground sprayers and airplanes, the maintenance required is low, they are simple to repair and change parts without special training and knowledge, and it is easy to transport drones on highways, roads and over long distances,\u201d Li says.<\/p>\n Li admits that farm drones do have their liabilities, primarily their limited battery power which can interfere with continuous mapping and spraying and reduce drone efficiency.\u00a0 However, the main obstacles to industry growth are limited drone purchase options, prohibitive hardware costs and continuing regulatory restrictions, he says.<\/p>\n Li sponsored the first \u201cSpray Drone End User\u201d conference in 2023.\u00a0 It was attended by more than 200 farmers, agricultural scientists and farm extension officials.\u00a0 He\u2019s expecting an even larger attendance this year \u2013 in part because interest in the field is growing and attendees can also participate in the event virtually.<\/p>\n This year\u2019s conference will feature technical field demonstrations of several of the latest spray drone models, as well as live swath testing.\u00a0 Critical operational issues such as spray drift management \u2013 to reduce potential harm from pesticides \u2013 and spray drone repair will also be addressed.\u00a0 In addition, officials at the FAA, EPA and state pesticide regulators will report on the latest regulatory challenges facing farm drone operators.<\/p>\n Li is hoping his annual conference can serve as a catalyst for further growth of the drone industry and commercial applications in U.S. agriculture.\u00a0 The US is facing growing competition from other farm countries that have moved more rapidly to incorporate drones into their agricultural operations, in part, due to fewer government regulations and more generous public subsidies, he notes.<\/p>\n For example, 30% of all agricultural spraying in South Korea is now conducted with drones. In Japan, 40% of the nation\u2019s rice crop is sprayed using drones.\u00a0 Despite its vast potential, the US market lags far behind, Li says.<\/p>\n The Association for Uncrewed Vehicle Systems International, a nonprofit trade group, estimates that agriculture could soon account for 80% of the global commercial drone market, but without greater US government support, including subsidized purchase and training opportunities, other countries with the largest farm acreages \u2013 China, India and Russia \u2013 are likely to dominate the emerging market.<\/p>\n While surveys show that some two-thirds of US farmers are interested in using drones to enhance their farm operations, due to current obstacles, including a lack of widely available training, only a small percentage of farmers actually deploy them.<\/p>\n According to a study by the USDA\u2019s Economic Research Service, barely 5% of U.S. farms currently utilize UAVs to conduct simple aerial surveys, and even fewer are equipped to deploy drones for precision spraying of pesticides and other farm inputs.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A drone conference in Alabama scheduled for February 26-29 will highlight the role of UAVs in \u201cprecision\u201d agriculture \u2013 a rapidly growing field that features drones equipped with advanced sensors that spray seeds, fertilizer and pesticides to targeted areas of a farm to maximize crop yields. The organizer of the conference, Steve Li, is a… Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dronevideos.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7025"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dronevideos.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dronevideos.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dronevideos.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dronevideos.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7025"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dronevideos.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7025\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dronevideos.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7025"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dronevideos.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7025"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dronevideos.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7025"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}