Unmanned aerial vehicles are the new frontier in agriculture

As the need for higher yields become necessary, the agricultural community is turning to new and different technology to aid is this undertaking. Drones, also known as unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), are typically associated with the military – however they are now making an appearance in the farming industry as a valuable precision tool.

Research has already begun into the benefits drones can provide to farmers. Exposing crop-diseased areas within a field would allow farmers minimize the cost of spraying, and the impact to the environment. With the technology to take high quality photos – down to the leaf level – the amount of hands-on-time growers spend in a field could be reduced, in turn saving in operation costs.

Prices for some unmanned aircraft systems may be a little salty for most – ranging into thousand of dollars – but folks like Chris Anderson, a former editor-in-chief of Wired magazine and now the CEO of 3D Robotics, is developing a system that is as small as a model plane, and employs a flying system that cost less then $200.

Experts say by 2015 the FAA will be integrating unmanned aircraft systems into U.S. airspace regulations. Currently the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is only allowing UAVs to be used in conjunction with university research, such as the studies occurring at Oregon State University with potato crops.