In Iowa, farming coops and operations like Crop Copter, Viafield, and AgReliant Genetics are using unmanned aerial vehicles to help manage their farms and identify troublesome spots that they otherwise can’t see easily. One of the biggest obstacles to widespread adoption has been tying the data they collect with recommendations on what to do about the issues the aerial fly-overs find in the fields. That gap is being addressed by some companies like PrecisionHawk and DJI who are integrating sensors with analytics and developing algorithms to help farmers more easily understand the data being collected by the UAVs.
Another challenge has been the cost to implement UAVs into agricultural operations, with most farmers unwilling to spend more than $5,000 on them. It remains to be seen what the growth in UAVs will be as a survey found only 9% already own one, 3% plan on owning one within 12 months, and 38% don’t plan on buying one at all, ever.