Have you seen crop-dusting drones in Oklahoma?
CEDAR VALLEY, Okla. (KFOR) — Drone technology is advancing fast and making its way into every niche industry it can, including agriculture.
You may even start to see more drones crop dusting across some Oklahoma fields soon.
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“I’m like, ‘What is that?’ And you get the ‘Oh my gosh, Aliens!'” said Patricia Pollman.
A few weeks ago, Pollman spotted something flying above the small field behind her Cedar Valley home.
“It was this big drone. And he was actually doing the crop dusting!” said Pollman. “We were so enthralled by it.”
Pollman is used to watching crop-dusting planes spray over the field, but nothing like this. She sent the video to News 4.
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“Welcome to the world of computers,” said Ken Carson, the former director of the School of Aviation at OU.
Carson said as the drone industry and technology advances, other industries like agriculture are already hopping on board.
“If you could do it, say three drones side-by-side and launch them on one end of the field, cover the whole field, it may be more efficient,” said Carson. “If a business can find a way to use that technology faster, cheaper, more economically, more efficient they’ll probably find a way to work that into their business.”
Garret Steggs is the former president of the Oklahoma Agricultural Aviation Association and a crop duster.
“It is a dangerous occupation,” Steggs said.
In his plane, he flies up to 160mph, 8 to 12 feet above a crop, while carrying hundreds of gallons of products to handle the 100+ acres on Oklahoma farms. He said drones couldn’t handle a job that big.
“They would have to have so many batteries,” said Steggs. “They’d be out there all day.”
However, drones are so advanced that they can identify certain species of plants.
“It can go out there, map those, and spray those individual plants,” said Steggs. “It may not need to haul 500 gallons.”
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As bigger and better drones are on their way, the primary concern is safety.
“When someone is flying a drone, we can’t see it,” said Steggs.
Steggs and Carson say the Federals Aviation Administration is working to iron out rules for that, before we start to see even more drones.
“Is it going to be a great tool? Yes it is,” said Steggs. “Whether or not it can really be utilized in the state of Oklahoma, I don’t know.”
“We didn’t think we’d see it at our age,” said Pollman.
The other big factor is cost. Drones like this are expensive. It’s also not an industry you can just jump into.
Carson and Steggs point out, just as any other technology, as it advances the devices should become more affordable.
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