Is the Drone Age Finally Upon Us?

By CropLife

I’ve recently returned from the 3rd annual Tech Hub Live Conference & Expo, held in Des Moines, IA, writes Eric Sfiligoj at CropLife. Per usual, this event was a great showcase for those interested in agricultural technology innovations and the trends expected to drive this marketplace forward over the upcoming growing season and beyond.

Naturally, there was lots of conversation at the show regarding some of the newest ag technologies beginning to appear across the industry. This included autonomous vehicle development and the debut of artificial intelligence (AI) into field equipment operations. However, if I had to pick one technology that seemed to create the greatest amount of buzz at Tech Hub Live 2023, it would be drones.

And many of us who have followed this particular technology segment would probably utter the same four words concerning this development: It’s about (expletive deleted) time!

Agricultural drones have been a “thing” for many years now. Yet, the adoption rate for drones in agriculture has remained largely unrealized. During multiple summer equipment shows during the late 2010s, drone manufacturers were common exhibitors. For most companies, however, repeat performances at the following year’s show were the exception rather than the rule.