Drones: Coming to a Farm Near You - Chad Colby, Colby AgTech

Click here to download Colby's PowerPoint presentation.

By Jan Shepel
An Illinois farm kid who grew up with a love for all things technical has become one of the nation’s foremost advocates for robotic aircrafts. Chad Colby, who set up Colby AgTech to work with farmers, notes that technological advances in cell phones and computers have changed agriculture in the last 15 years and he maintains that drones will be “coming to a farm near you soon.”

Holding up is new iPhone, he noted that it has more computer power than what was in the first space shuttle. He spoke to a group of dairy farmers and showed off the newest technology at the Vita Plus Dairy Summit in Baraboo, Wisconsin, shortly before flying off to the International Drone Expo in Los Angeles.

Colby encouraged farmers to “tell their story” through social media, which he uses extensively, because it can reach so many people who are far removed from farming in their own families and experience. Sharing the story that corn growers actually doubled output since the ‘80s using the same amount of fertilizer is one of the things he loves to share.

Electronic technology is another thing that continues to change rapidly, like the new micro-processor that is 100 times faster than what we have today. Drones, Colby maintained, can generate lots of data and it is in real time, which makes it useful for farmers.

As of 2012, he said, one out of every three U.S. aircraft is a UAV – unmanned aerial vehicle – or so-called drone. These aircrafts, some of which are small enough to fit in the palm of the hand, are used in at least 50 countries.

While they seem like a new innovation, they were used extensively from 1965 to 1973 in Vietnam for military purposes. But the planes and their technology have changed rapidly. A camera for a drone dropped in price from $30,000 to $6,500 in a year’s time, and dropping prices make them attractive for hobbyists.

According to Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) regulations, he explained, hobby or recreation users can operate drones during daylight hours only, keeping them to a 400-foot ceiling limit and “making no decisions” with the data they get from the flights.

The FAA also has what is called a 333 exemption, which allows licensed pilots (like Colby) to get an additional permit to fly drones for hire. He suggested more information is available on www.knowbeforeyoufly.org. A change to the 333 permit coming soon is removal of the pilot license requirement.

Though he noted that using drones in agriculture is a big step forward, he advised farmers to “make sure that you understand the rules” and urged them to be very careful in selecting a drone if they are buying. One Kickstarter campaign raised $3.5 million from donors to begin production of a drone and then the company folded.

Colby claims a huge economic impact to agriculture from the use of drones and said the sector commands 65 percent of all the unmanned business. There are fixed wing and quad-copter drones, which he showed to farmers, and each has a good application for agriculture. One mission is to scout large acreages in a short amount of time for the purpose of determining ongoing production, deficits in fertilizer or flooding on the fields.

Colby said a “tidal wave of game-changing technology” is on its way and he sees that creating a future for farmers “with no limits.”