The Northwest Michigan Farm Show descended upon the Grand Traverse Spa and Resort in Williamsburg Tuesday and yesterday. Many topics were up for discussion, including drones and new technology that represents a new front of precision agriculture.
“It’s always nice to see people backinpersonagain. Ialways love our growers, and it’s good to see them here,’ Northwest Michigan extension director Nikki Rothwell said.“We’ve talked a lot about drones, we’ve talked a lot about technology, we’ve talked a lot about precision agriculture. And I feel like we’ve got some challenges in the industry, but I feel if we’re gonna keep things going, we got to think about what’s next, and we got to keep up the rest of the world.”
As of press yesterday, the farm show featured several topics, including an update on the Cherry Marketing Institute (CMI) and the Cherry Industry Administrative Board (CIAB) and disease management. The CMI also introduced President Amy Cohn to growers for the first time.
One of the new devices that wouldn’t have been at the show five years ago is drones, specifically spraying drones that can cost anywhere from $15,000 to $30,000.
Richard Price, MSU Extension and Department of Earth and Environmental Science discussed how drones could be pivotal in helping farmers improve their bottom lines and address problem areas through detailed mapping of food plots.
“The biggest variable farmers are dealing with is the weather, which you can’t control. Using the data you have in the past can at least indicate how your fields will respond to the future, and you just let mother nature roll the dice. That’s probably the best use of this data (drones) I can see,” Price said during the presentation.
The corn industry brought forward the idea of using drones four years ago.
“The first time I mentioned it to a group of farmers, I thought I was going to be carried out because you couldn’t tell them that there are parts of their field that they’re losing money on,” Price said.
The goal of drones is to map food crops with different types of imaging, which can identify under-performing areas of an orchard and, hopefully, address the issues.
“It’s all about profitability,” Price said. “We took composite images over time to compare with the measured data to see if there is any correlation and response between multiple images, giving us a dollar estimate per tree.”
Dr. Mike Reinke of MSU Extension also discussed the new technology in spray drones.
Only a select few at the show have operated or even seen a spray drone.
“They’re a fun new toy, a neat new piece of technology. We need to remember that these are not toys; they are sprayers, applicants, and farm equipment,” Reinke said.
Last year, Reinke did a research project on spraying grapes with drones on a 2.5-acre block.
The biggest finding is how much time the drone application could save. Other applications include spraying and how effective it is for growers.
Current spray drones can carry 2 to 18 gallons of spray chemicals. They can be as big as 10 feet across, have 200 pounds of lift-off weight, and cost as much as $30,000. Starting a business doing this would cost over $75,000.
“It took me from the time I showed up in the field to start the timer, take the drone out of the truck... It took me 24 minutes in time. Actual flight time for the two and a half acres was 10 minutes,” Reinke said. “It doesn’t change how good they are; it changes how adaptable and productive they can be,” Reinke said.
The presentation covered a spraying experiment to determine how much coverage a drone sprayer can provide for the top, middle, and lower parts of a canopy. Findings showed progress and the ability to save time through drones. But it’s about as accurate as conventional spraying methods and, in some circumstances, less effective.
Local cherry farmer Gene Garthe is skeptical about the potential of drones and cites how expensive the product is for cherry farmers who don’t have much expendable cash.
Another interesting piece of new technology featured at the farm show is a bird laser that costs upward of $15,000 from Henrietta Hills Trout Farm, located 30 miles south of Traverse City.
This new laser keeps birds on the fly. A green laser disrupts birds’ sensitive eyes to get them off crops and more.
“Whereas we see a green dot at the end of the laser beam, they can see the whole beam,” Harrietta Hills owner, Dan Volger said. “When birds perceive this beam coming towards them, they don’t know what it is, they don’t understand it, and their reaction is to fly away. We’re interested in protecting fruit, such as grapes, cherries, and apples, for the most part. Still, there are many other applications for the technology as well.”
This could be a solution for typical cannons that keep birds away, but it costs 10 times as much.
“They’re not expensive to run ... on 100 watts, so it’s about the same as a nice bright light bulb in your bedroom; it’s cool new tech,” Volger said.
