In Florida, TerrAvion began weekly low-altitude flights using high-tech imaging sensors to help growers spot plant health issues and irrigation problems before they impact yield and revenue. Unlike the recent rush into agricultural drone technologies, these are planes flown by humans that capture aerial photographs, normalized difference vegetation index images, thermal images, custom color maps and histograms, at resolutions tight enough to see individual leaves on plants. The imagery is uploaded to the cloud within hours of capture allowing farmers to see and compare their acreage with unprecedented detail and timeliness.
TerrAvion’s founder, Robert Morris, said the company decided to expand into Florida due to high demand from companies like Highland Precision Ag and Propak, makers of Citrus Pro. “There’s a huge grower community in Florida, and they are very tech savvy and open to trying new things,” said Morris. “We are seeing strong interest from growers all across the state.”