Agriculture will be the “big winner” in the commercial unmanned aerial vehicle (drone) industry, says UAV specialist and farmer Chad Colby.
“Agriculture could capture about 60-65 percent of the U.S. UAV market,” predicts Colby who has 2,000 UAV flights at his fingertips. That’s about two-thirds of total market share.
He says, “We can improve yields with this technology.”
UAVs will help growers improve water-use efficiency, says Colby, locate pest and disease threats in fields and orchards earlier leading to more timely treatments, plus more efficiently utilize farm chemicals.
At the end of the day, placing more green in producers’ wallets would be icing on the cake.
UAV sales revenue could eclipse the $82-billion level in the next 10 years, forecasts Colby. So far, more than 70,000 jobs have been created in the UAV industry.
Colby shared his UAV experience, foresight, and predictions during a hands-on event at the 2015 American Society of Farm Managers and Rural Appraisers’ California chapter’s Outlook Conference in Paso Robles, Calif. in April.
He is convinced that UAVs will improve how producers farm.
In the walnut industry, for example, Colby says a UAV could search for a specific light wavelength associated with walnut blight disease, allowing the grower or pest manager to react faster to the issue, reduce crop damage, and improve productivity.
UAVs are easy to fly, says Colby and several of the class participants, with a hand-held, video game-like controller. Different UAV models and options can produce photos and video with varying quality featuring bird’s eye images of fields, orchards, and livestock operations with far greater resolution than the human eye.
Perhaps the biggest fear for first-time UAV fliers is the fear of crashing the aircraft. Crashes do occur yet Colby has never crashed a UAV during his 2,000 flight hours.
While UAVs may be a huge technological evolution for agriculture, growers are anxiously waiting on the Federal Aviation Administration to finalize who will and will not be allowed to fly the UAV, where, how, etc.
For now, the final FFA regulations are the $10 million question for agriculture.
Source: www.westernfarmpress.com