USING DRONES FOR CROP SURVEILLANCE

Using Drones For Crop Surveillance

Comparing the Costs and Returns of This New Technology
Lindsay Woodcock

USING DRONES FOR CROP SURVEILLANCE

Drones have both a lot of possibilities, as well as problems. The agricultural industry is
faced with the decision if the costs outweigh the benefits.We will observe the potential, demand,
issues, and future of the use of drones for crop surveillance. Drones have the potential to increase
yields, safety, and productivity, as well as reducing costs and time spent. However, they do pose
a possible threat to personal and public safety and privacy. Many in the agricultural industry,
such as farmers continue to advocate the use of drones, while many citizens outside of the
industry, and the FAA, are cautious to move forward with this new form of technology.
Farming crops has always been a time consuming and labor intensive task, crops
continuously require observation and work to find areas of low growth, illness, and damage.
Drones provide a means to reduce the amount of labor that must be put in by farmers and their
employees on a regular basis. Combine with the increasing scale of agriculture, farmers know
the value of scouting their crops, [but] few actually have time to cover the acres on foot (Drones
for Agricultural Crop Surveillance). This technology not only has the ability to save time, but it
also has a substantial return on investment. The investment is at times, up to $1,000 an hour
or more or individuals can purchase them with some companies able to offer drones for
as little as $1,000 or less (Heneghan). Compared to man power, the possible return on
investment with the use of drone surveillance is potentially greater:
At an average of $2 per acre for a walking visual inspection or an aerial survey to take an
image of crop fields, the ROI (return on investment) on the purchase of an aerial
helicopter drone can be met quickly. In most operations, the ROI for our drones can be
achieved in a crop season or less, leaving you owning a drone that reduces your

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operating costs and improves your crop yield by giving you the timely information you
need for quick management intervention (Drones For Agricultural Crop Surveillance).
This higher return on investment is more than monetary, according to MIT Technology Review,
compared with satellite imagery, [a drone is] much cheaper and offers higher resolution
because its taken under the clouds, its unobstructed and available anytime (Heneghan). The
issues that farmers become concerned with are often easily addressed with the use drones. Both
problems and important measurements can be made via drones, scouting drones enable farmers
to know when crops are properly irrigated, diseased, or overrun with pests [they] could also
help farmers count the number of plants in a crop and measure their heights (Heneghan). Rather
than wasting precious hours and labor walking or driving fields searching for problems, drones
could potentially allow farmers to send them out, while they complete other tasks, to take
measurements and images, with some containing systems could even analyze the data
themselves. There have been many situations in which the Agricultural industry can see and
benefit from the positive impact of this technology.
In the United States, regulations do no allow for much commercial use of drones, one
should look at the rest of the world and see their use and benefits of the technology. In other
countries, that do allow commercial agriculture drones [they] have seen positive results
(Drones: the Future of Crop Surveillance). Productivity and yields are increased when the
amount of physical labor required is decreased, Dutch farmers have boosted yields by 50%
while conserving water and fertilizer through use of drones (Drones: the Future of Crop
Surveillance). Along with the previously discussed fiscal benefits, there are also positive for
public health, which is an increasingly growing concern and topic, in Japan, autonomous
helicopters spray a majority of farmland, preventing the adverse health effects caused by crop
dusting, made possible, because it would reduce the amount of overspray(Drones: the Future of

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Crop Surveillance). Wozniacka points out that, were talking surgical agriculture, which allows
us to be more environmentally friendly because we can be even more precise in how we apply
fertilizer, water or pesticides (Wozniacka). When faced with the fiscal, productive, and medical
benefits, it is easy to see why there is an rapid growing demand for this product.
It's basically economics, when there is demand, there shall be supply, experts point to
agriculture as the most promising commercial market for drones because the technology is a
perfect fit for large-scale farms and vast rural areas where privacy and safety issues are less of a
concern (Wozniacka). The is not all good news, however, due to the great increase in demand,
there has also been an increase in public interest and opinion on the topic.
With public interest at a peak, the concerns of the people means a need for some sort of
regulation. One issue holding commercial drones back is concerns about privacy and safety.
According to a recent Associated Press poll, only 21% favored commercial use of drones,
compared with 43% opposed. Another 35% were in the middle (Drones: the Future of Crop
Surveillance). Recent activity in the industry has not followed the upward trend that would be
expected, due to citizen concerns and lack of FAA regulations, [the] industry has been nearly
stopped in its tracks (Drones: the Future of Crop Surveillance). One of the largest concerns that
citizens have is the possibility of athreat to both our private and national security. With the drone
use outside of agriculture being a contributing factor to this problem, flights into restricted air
space have become such a common problem for private drone users that there is a whole subset
of the insurance industry forming to provide liability insurance for drones and drone operators.
(Drones For Agricultural Crop Surveillance). This concern has had an obvious effect on the
industry, and is possibly holding back the advancement of agriculture.
It is those who are not involved in agricultural industry who directly receive the benefits
and are not the only ones weary of the potential breach of security and privacy, some farmers

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fear environmental groups could use the technology to spy on them PETA, People for the
Ethical Treatment of Animals, recently announced plans to purchase drones to monitor factory
farms (Wozniacka). This will prove detrimental to any industry, special intrest radical groups
pushing an agenda may skew footage that they get from farms and other agricultural operations,
along with many other industries. Security is not the only concern, the issue of privacy is also a
great concern, in a recent speech, a Supreme Court justice remarked that [t]here are drones
flying over the air randomly that are recording everything thats happening on what we consider
our private property, and such technology has to stimulate us to think about what is it that we
cherish in privacy and how far we want to protect it and from whom, including from
corporations and from private citizens (Blitz). While these concerns have limited sales and
industry growth, they have not limited technological improvements, all the more reason for a
former of regulation to be inacted.
Technological advancements give farmers the ability to locate and address problems.
They can allow producers to, find potentially yield limiting problems in a timely fashion
(Drones For Agricultural Crop Surveillance). While farmers may be weary to try a technology
they are unfamiliar with, [drones] can be very complex to set-up and operate, but with our
present standards [providers] allow new operators to have confidence in operating from the
beginning (Drones For Agricultural Crop Surveillance), it opens the door for private companies
to start thus helping the economy as well as the farmers. Along with surveillance, drones can,
draw field borders for flight pattern,[see] the true health of [a] field in a color contrast allows
you to see how much sunlight is being absorbed by the crop canopy, find roaming, runaway
cattle, [and] can keep farmers safe with patrolling their fields for illicit marijuana grows
(Drones For Agricultural Crop Surveillance). To add to the ease of operation, many systems
come equipped with an added safety net, [so] with the flip of a switch [the drone will] return to

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its original takeoff location (Drones For Agricultural Crop Surveillance). It is increasingly
proving that the benefits far outweigh the costs, but the greatest hold on the industry comes from
the FAA.
Progress has been made, however, in a landmark decision from the FAA, Empire
Unmanned, an agriculture drone manufacturer, was the first agriculture company to receive an
FAA Section 333 Exemption to fly commercial UAV missions over farmers fields across the
country in 2015 the exemption will have to be renewed in 2016 (Drones: the Future of Crop
Surveillance).This progress can lead to great economic stimulus, a potentially immeasurable
benefit to not just farmers but a whole nation, some forecasts predict that the commercial drone
industry could create 100,000 new jobs and generate $82 billion in economic development in the
first 10 years (Drones: the Future of Crop surveillance). The benefits of this industry extends far
beyond the field, and should be taken into great consideration.
The real benefits outweigh the theoretical costs. All risks are based on the idea that the
technology be used by those with negative intentions, rather than those who are seeking
improved production. We have to consider our ever growing population and its increasing need
for more efficient food production. Innovations such as this one need to be supported, rather than
suppressed, while they should not be allowed to go unregulated. Regulations are necessary in
order to keep everyone safe, but they shouldnt be use-limiting to such a useful product.
In coming months and years law makers and the FAA will have critical decisions to make
concerning the use of drones.The safety concerns and the growing need for efficient agriculture
will require a great amount of consideration. As discussions continue farmers will have to
continue to defend their needs.

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USING DRONES FOR CROP SURVEILLANCE

References
Blitz, M. J., Grimsley, J., Henderson, S. E., & Thai, J. (n.d.). REGULATING DRONES UNDER
THE FIRST AND FOURTH AMENDMENTS. Retrieved February 27, 2016.
Deen, L. (n.d.). Freedom to Drone. Retrieved February 26, 2016.
Drones For Agricultural Crop Surveillance. (n.d.). Retrieved February 28, 2016, from http://
www.precisiondrone.com/drones-for-agriculture.html
Drones: The future of crop surveillance? (n.d.). Retrieved February 27, 2016, from http://
www.fooddive.com/news/drones-the-future-of-crop-surveillance/356234/
Esqueda, H. (2015). Drones find applications in ag industry. The Business Journal. Retrieved
February 28, 2016.
Hollis, P. L. (2014, August 6). FAA Drone Ruling a Setback For Farmers? Retrieved February
27, 2016.
Roberson, R. (2013). Drones May Help Find Crop Problems. Southeast Farm Press. Retrieved
February 27, 2016.
Wozniacka, G. (2013). Forget Amazon, Here's Why Agriculture Is Going To Be The Most
Promising Market For Drones. Retrieved February 26, 2016, from http://
www.businessinsider.com/agriculture-and-drones-2013-12