Nick Otto stands in a 160-acre field of fledging corn on a coolish June afternoon. His eyes and experience tell him a lot, but he knows they don’t reveal everything, especially about a field this large.
He specifically wants a better handle on the stand count, or the number of corn plants growing in the field — information that will help Otto, proprietor of Otto Ag in Crystal, N.D., best advise his farmer client on how much fertilizer to apply. Applying too little shortchanges the crop; applying too much wastes money.
So Otto and employee Cameron Jenson are preparing to send up up a small drone that, while traveling 24 mph, will take multiple aerial images of the field. Those images will be compiled into a single image that Otto will study before making his fertilizer recommendation …
http://www.thedickinsonpress.com/4285295-flying-little-higher-drone-use-ag-grows
The Dickinson (ND) Press | June 19, 2017
