Kansas farmers will get a hands-on look at agricultural uses of unmanned aerial vehicles – more commonly called drones – during an upcoming public meeting in Garnett.

Officials with the Frontier Extension District and Coffey County Extension office said registration is now open for the meeting, titled Using Drone Technology in Agriculture. There is no cost to attend, but those interested must register by calling Ryan Schaub at 785-448-6826, or send e-mail to [email protected].

The meeting is co-sponsored by the Anderson County and Coffee County conservation districts.

“In our area, we have had an increase in questions about how to create businesses to spray herbicides and insecticides on fields,” said Schaub, a crop production and farm management agent in K-State Research and Extension’s Frontier District.

“Typically,” he added, “the business questions lead to questions about regulations on spraying and which drones to look at purchasing.”

In 2023, the global agriculture drone market was valued at $4.98 billion, and is expected to grow to $6.11 billion by the end of 2024, according to Fortune Business Insights, a market research firm.

By 2032, the use of drones in agriculture is forecast to top $23.78 billion, the company reports.

“The farmers I talk to are asking about how to use drones to spread cover crops, or spraying insecticides or fungicides on small acreage row crop ground,” Schaub said. “But there are a wide variety of other uses, as well, such as checking cattle during calving season, or spraying herbicide on hilly slopes in a pasture.”

In addition to live demonstrations of flying drones, the Sept. 10 meeting will outline many topics that are currently relevant. Speakers on the agenda include:

• Spencer Schrader, the flight operations manager for K-State Salina’s Uncrewed Aircraft Systems program, a national leader in that field. Schrader will discuss the state of the industry; including regulations; types of drones and their applications; current and future uses; accessories; and making aerial applications with a drone.
• Jaymelynn Farney, a beef systems specialist with K-State Research and Extension’s southeast area agricultural research center. Farney will present her research that uses drones to measure pasture biomass.
• Trevor Witt, owner of Kairos Geospatial, the first private entity to offer commercial UAS services legally in Kansas. He will discuss practical applications of drone remote sensing for natural resource conservation.
• Kelly Nainsky-Wenzel, the program manager for the Kansas Department of Agriculture’s pesticide and fertilizer division. She will discuss KDA’s role when drones are used to apply herbicides.
• Haley Larson, a professor of animal health and nutrition at K-State Olathe. Larson has published book chapters on emerging technologies to improve the global food supply and cattle management. She’ll discuss applications for using drones in the feedyard.

“Each of the speakers has first-hand experience using drones for vastly different uses,” Schaub said. “For attendees, the ability to learn different ways that the same piece of equipment is being used helps to justify the purchase a bit more.”

Additional information on the meeting is available online at https://www.frontierdistrict.k-state.edu.