(La Porte County, IN) - Drone technology is being used in this area to support agriculture.

 

Companies have cropped up all over the country utilizing large drones for spreading pesticides and fungicides. One of them is Raven 6 Rising, which has been spraying corn fields in northern Indiana for the past couple of weeks.

 

Owner/operator Jason Miller gave HTNN a quick lesson in drone spraying while fueling up his truck for the trip back home to Madison, Mississippi.

 

“The great thing about what we’re doing is that we’re saving the farmer a lot of money,” he said.  According to Miller, a farmer’s spraying equipment can cost over $1 million, plus thousands of dollars in diesel fuel per tank. Wheeled sprayers can also trample crops and cause soil compaction, he said.

 

Miller uses two drones weighing about 300 pounds each when loaded with chemical. A three-man crew operate the drones remotely. He transports the drones on a 32-foot trailer that doubles as a flight deck on top of a 1,000-gallon agitator tank for chemical storage.

 

According to Miller, traditional airplane sprayers still do an effective job, “but we can get into areas that crop dusters can’t get into.” And he says drones also spread chemicals more effectively.

 

“The great thing about crop dusters is that they can cover a lot of ground, and they can cover it fast,” said Miller. “The great thing about drones is that we can cover it lower to the ground.” According to Miller, the downforce created by the drone propellers during spraying yields better coverage for plants. “When a crop duster flies over, it just lays a blanket of chemical on top of the crops.”

 

Miller is licensed by the FAA and the state, much like a crop duster who flies a plane. “It takes a lot of paperwork through the FAA to get your licensing to be able to fly these size drones,” he said. “We carry the same license that the crop dusters fly with.” Miller says proper qualifications are important in order to understand how to deal with airborne chemicals properly.

 

Miller got into the Ag business just a year ago, after many years of flying drones for his video production company. He has done videography for clients such as ESPN, NBC Sports, and the Outdoor Channel. When he saw the sprayer drones displayed at a farm trade show, Miller said he decided to invest in a rig for himself.

 

“Drones, in my opinion, they’re the way of the future,” he said. “It’s a clean, green energy. They’re run by batteries. It is a futuristic way of working.”