Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/401644
www.goodfruit.com GOOD FRUIT GROWER NOVEMBER 2014 39 weighing 55 pounds or less and flying under 400 feet, the area where hobbyists now operate but where services in which there are monetary transactions can't be performed. Fruit applications Hinton said that unmanned aircraft can help people cope with the four Ds— the dull, the dirty, the dangerous, and the difficult. Imagine the safety gains in taking pilots out of cropdusters working over potato fields, which is the subject of a research project at Oregon State University. Bruce Prenguber, an independent agricultural economics consultant at Globalwise in Vancouver, Washing- ton, said that "many people are speaking highly of the technology as the new big tool in agriculture." Applications in tree fruits and grapes might include scouting orchards—looking for outbreaks of insects or diseases, scaring off birds attacking fruit, locating wildlife damaging trees or posing a food safety threat, monitoring irrigation equipment, and doing early estimates of fruit yields. They could be used for precision spraying of small areas or for spreading pollen during bloom. "Flight and photography are not really difficult," Prenguber said. "The key will be interpreting the data so it turns into actionable infor- mation." Work is under way to use cameras and near-infrared reflec- tance technology to detect and interpret color changes that occur when foliage is stressed or damaged. Prenguber says it'll probably be companies and consultants, rather than farmers themselves, who develop the systems and programs that will be used in orchards and vineyards. Like apps for smartphones, programs will be developed, but they will need to be quite sophisti- cated. "Ultimately," he said, "data systems will be established to record data for each individual tree and metered space of trees grown in high-density hedgerows." One of the exciting things about UAVs is that they can be pro- grammed to fly in patterns, and they can fly the same pattern repeat- edly. They can do things like the row crops people are doing with precision agriculture, putting the right kind and amount of fertilizer in an area based on yield potential or crop load, for example. With the right interpretation of data, fruit crop size could be measured repeatedly from bloom on and the infor- mation used to schedule bins and pickers in the right amount to various orchard blocks and estimate crop value based on supply and condition. The fixed-wing aircraft UAVs fly faster, but the helicopters are more capable of getting close and homing in. A good camera could focus on a single apple or a single insect monitoring trap, and a good wireless transmitter could send a closeup picture to a computer screen in the office. There's an old saying, what you don't have in your head, you have to have in your heels. If Amazon can deliver a package to a doorstep, maybe a spouse can send that lunch you forgot right to the orchard? And that wrench you need? No problem. Prenguber noted that fruit growers are early adopters of new technology. It probably won't be long before there's a drone in your orchard. • Robots that FLY This particular drone uses a specialized camera developed for agricultural use, such as crop health management and soil nutrient testing. New Equipment & Technology "Work is under way to use cameras and near-infrared reflectance technology to detect and interpret color changes that occur when foliage is stressed or damaged." —Bruce Prenguber H ermann Thoennissen, president of HTG Inter- national, will speak about incorporating UAVs and drones into farm operations during the Washington State Horticultural Association's annual meeting in Kennewick on December 1. PHOTOS COURTESY OF DRAGANFLY INNOVATIONS INC.