Warren Co. Community College ag curriculum to use drone technology

The DJI Agras T30 features a 30-liter spray tanks, a radar system to enable the drone to follow terrain while avoiding obstacles over a 360-degree circumference. (Photo courtesy Warren County Community College)

WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP — Agriculture will be the next beneficiary of the drone program at Warren County Community College under the direction of Adam Kyle, instructor in precision agriculture.
Precision agriculture involves the use of advanced technology, including drones, to improve many facets of growing. It involves using new technologies to increase crop yields nad profitability while decreating reliance on land, water, fertilizer, herbicides, insecticides and fungicides.
It was discussed by the Warren County Board of Commissioners at their reorganization meeting in early January.
“Using technology to improve results for our farmers, and help them sustain their agribusinesses, is literally the perfect application of technology,” said Commission Director Lori Ciesla. “There is no food without farms, and we are dedicated to seeing our Warren County farms thrive for generations to come.”
Commissioner James Kern commented, “These exciting new methods have the ability to produce more crops while reducing impacts on our shared environment.”
Commissioner Jason Sarnoski noted “precision agriculture will help us combine technology and agriculture to support our farms of the future.” He said the program has funding through the USDA and can provide WCCC with partnership opportunities with nearby counties.
Two new types of drones are part of the ag classes at WCCC.
The Wingtra One Gen II is a vertical takeoff and landing system drone that uses sophisticated sensors to analyze plant health. The multi-spectral sensors can capture images across bands of both the visible and invisible spectra, toward the infrared end. The drone uses a Sony 42-megapixel camera to take high quality color images. The camera is capable of high resolution photography even in low light.
The other aerial system presented in the course is a DJI Agras T30 with a 30-liter spray tanks, a radar system to enable the drone to follow terrain while avoiding obstacles over a 360-degree circumference.
The classwork teaches handling of the drone and dealing with FAA paperwork that is necessary because the weight of the battery and a full tank exceeds the federal weight limit. Waivers will be necessary for the weight on top of normal permitting process for applying chemical applications from low-flying aircraft.
Students will also learn about mapping of areas for application and adjusting spray rates and the use of the seed/pellet spreader attachment.
Other new technologies are also part of the course.
Closer to the ground, but also capable of remote application is the XAG R150 ground robot with a 100-liter tank and two sprayers on gyroscopic arms that accommodate a 12-meter spray width. Students will study both the manual and autonomous use.
They will also learn to operate Earthscout soil sensors which are solar powered and measure soil moisture, temperature, salinity, air temperature and air humidity.
The innovative cow ear tag that monitors health, fertility and nutrition is the subject of more course work. The tag contains a cow manager system that reads heat and blood flow in the ear and determines the activity of the cow which helps the farmer with feed management.
“What the machines can do is simply incredible and will help farmers immensely in their operations,” Kyle said. “Learning to operate these state-of-the-art machines will give farmers an edge in the technological aspects of agriculture.”
The precision agriculture program is slated to begin this fall.
Interested students can visit www.warren.edu.