MSU showcases automated agricultural technology at agronomic field day

Contact: Meg Henderson

Personnel from Mississippi State and Leading Edge Aerial Technologies ready a spray drone for the field. (Photo by David Ammon)

STARKVILLE, Miss.-The latest precision and automated agricultural technologies were showcased during the Mississippi State agronomic field day today [Aug. 6] at the R. R. Foil Plant Science Research Center.

Co-hosted by the university's Agricultural Autonomy Institute, Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station and the MSU Extension Service, the public event featured sessions on crop management, insect control and plant physiology stress. An event highlight-the highly anticipated sprayer drone demonstration-in partnership with Leading Edge Aerial Technologies piqued the interest of attendees.

Madison Dixon, AAI's associate director, said that MSU will benefit from LEAT's knowledge and expertise by putting sprayer drone technology into the hands of researchers and farmers alike.

"Our partnership with Leading Edge provides opportunities for MSU scientists to advance research in uncrewed aerial applications," he said. "We're also navigating regulations and certifications effectively so we can extend that knowledge to Mississippi's growers."

LEAT is among a handful of American companies taking off in the production market of drones designed for agricultural spray-and-spread applications.

The Daytona Beach-based company was founded in 2009 by brothers Bill and Mike Reynolds, who engineer, design and manufacture geospatial database systems, automated droplet analysis software, and uncrewed aerial system, or UAS, technologies. In 2017, LEAT introduced its first drone and demonstrated its latest model, the PrecisionVision 40X, at the field day.

"Our drones have a conventional boom and nozzle sprayer, which reduces the fractional droplet spectrum associated with drift," said Bill Reynolds. "And we design and improve our products using data and swath-and-droplet analyses our team has gathered from offering our system as a service to customers."

Reynolds and Whitney Crow, associate professor and Extension row crop entomologist at Mississippi State, view sprayer drones as a complement to-not a replacement for-conventional application methods performed by crewed aircraft and ground vehicles. While conventional technology likely will continue to service large agricultural operations, in certain cases, drones can do the job more effectively, safely and at a lower cost. In a recent series of trials comparing drone-based and ground-based insecticide applications, Crow and her colleagues found both methods equally effective.

"A drone can't operate on the same scale as a crop duster or tractor, but it can maneuver more easily around hilly terrain, for example, or perform an application when recent rainfall prevents tractors from entering the field," Crow said.

LEAT tech sales representative Kelley Wittenberg noted the partnership with MSU benefits the company as well.

"The technology is progressing quickly, and we're always planning the next generation drone. Working with universities and farmers presents us with new ideas and opportunities to collaborate and improve our products," she said.

Learn more about MSU's Agricultural Autonomy Institute at https://www.aai.msstate.edu/. To learn more about Leading Edge, visit https://leaaerialtech.com.

Mississippi State University is taking care of what matters. Learn more at www.msstate.edu.

Tuesday, August 6, 2024 - 1:55 pm