Could Drones Be The Future Of Corn Production?

SARAH CATO 

PINE TREE, ARKANSAS

When attendees of the 2023 Corn Field Day were asked how many use drones for their field crop operation, only two hands went up. But researchers with the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture believe this number could grow over the next five years.

The field day, held at the Pine Tree Research Station, welcomed 70 attendees who heard presentations on corn management, growth and development, nitrogen recommendations and recent research in drone technology.

Jason Kelley, extension wheat and feed grains agronomist for the Division of Agriculture, kicked off the field day with growth-staging demonstrations. He reminded attendees of the importance of accurate growth staging, specifically in regard to cut-off timings for common herbicides.

Drone research 

Aurelie Poncet, assistant professor of precision agriculture for the Division of Agriculture, discussed her current research in drone technology for assessing mid-season nitrogen status in corn. The research project aims to provide an online tool that allows producers to identify nitrogen-deficient areas from drone footage of their fields. 

“It is quite easy to take photos of our fields with drones, but analyzing those photos and assessing nitrogen status is not so easy,” Poncet said. “With this online tool, you will be able to upload your photos and, using standard red-green-blue camera technology — or RGB — the web application will alert you to potential problem areas.”

Poncet said this technology, which is still in development, will not replace tissue sampling. However, it will make sampling efforts more targeted and efficient.

“This is meant to complement tissue sampling, not replace it,” she said. “With this technology, you will be able to fly drones over your fields once or twice a week and prioritize sampling when you see potential issues.”

Poncet said the next step is to conduct a cost-benefit analysis of drone usage in corn production and to develop technology that will generate nitrogen recommendations based on data from drone footage.

Jason Davis, extension application technologist for the Division of Agriculture, shared multiple uses for drones in row crop production, all of which have the same goal: saving time and money. For scouts and crop consultants, Davis said drones could save hours of work each season.

“If crop consultants could fly a drone over their fields and identify problem areas, that’s taking five minutes to save yourself walking the wrong corner of your field,” Davis said. “It may not be able to pinpoint issues, but it can alert you to hot spots and help you cut through those acres a lot quicker.”

However, Davis pointed to the same issue as Poncet: analyzing the footage.

“The question right now is, how do we process this information?” Davis said. “With gigabytes of imagery collected with each flight, we have to find a way to manage that data efficiently.”

Davis’s research aims to develop technology that analyzes drone imagery in real time, and its arrival may not be far away. Both Davis and Poncet estimate drone usage in row crop production will grow exponentially over the next five years.

“Drones offer a lot of potential for farmers,” Davis said. “They are a great data collection technology, the imagery can be collected at farm scale, at incredibly high-resolution, and more affordable options are becoming available. With current research, I believe drones will be much more common in row crop production over the next five to seven years.” ∆

SARAH CATO: University of Arkansas