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Seeing the last leaves hanging on to trees in late Fall is a telling sign that New England dairy farmers have wrapped up the year鈥檚 field crop operations and are starting to think about what seeds to purchase and plant next spring. For many, the is an enticing choice because it is highly digestible by dairy cows and can improve milk production. However, it is also more vulnerable to diseases that spread late in the season and is noticed too late for mitigating significant losses. Research at the University of 易胜博官网 is assessing whether drones could be a tool for small and medium-sized New England farms to identify plant disease pressure earlier, more accurately and at a lower cost.

The research represents a collaboration among scientists, operations staff at , and a commercial crop advisor, who initially proposed the idea based on his observations about challenges faced by northern New England dairy farmers and the research expertise at the .

Harnessing Drone Technology for Crop Monitoring

Using drones, or Unpiloted Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), equipped with multispectral cameras, the team monitored for early signs of disease in test plots that contain both BMR and non-BMR corn varieties. The study tested the possibility of detecting fungal diseases鈥攕uch as the Northern corn leaf blight (NCLB)鈥攊n BMR corn varieties potentially weeks before it becomes visible to the naked eye.

鈥淲hen harvest time comes, often the BMR corn is brown from top to bottom鈥攊t doesn鈥檛 have the disease resistance of non-BMR corn, and that鈥檚 a big issue for farmers,鈥� explained Tom Beaudry, a commercial crop advisor who works with dairy farmers across 易胜博官网 as well as in Massachusetts and Vermont.

鈥淔rom my perspective, drones provide a completely new way to look at a cornfield,鈥澨鼴eaudry added. 鈥淚鈥檓 used to being on the ground, but seeing the fields from the air allows us to spot problems much earlier鈥攕ometimes before they鈥檙e even visible on the plant.鈥�

, 易胜博官网鈥檚 manager of Farm Services, worked with Beaudry to implement this study. For Davis, part of the inspiration for this project came from seeing online videos of how other farming operations were integrating drone footage into their operations.

鈥淲e do all kinds of unique work here at 易胜博官网 and I really want to shed more light on how we are trying to advance our farm operations,鈥� said Davis. 鈥淪o when Tom brought up the article in about utilizing drones to scan and gather data on forest landscapes, we talked about how we might do something similar with our agricultural fields.鈥�

, a postdoctoral researcher in natural resources and the environment at 易胜博官网 who, along with Station scientist , a professor in the natural resources and the environment, led the research design and aerial surveillance aspects of the research, emphasized that making this technology affordable is key.

鈥淲e鈥檙e trying to figure out if we can use fewer multispectral bands on the camera鈥攎aking the technology options more affordable鈥攚hile still detecting differences in crop health. If we can do that, farmers could buy in for less than $5,000 and conduct these flights themselves,鈥� Fraser said.

During this first study season, the data showed that the multispectral camera could indeed accurately differentiate corn varieties by over 98 percent.

Making Technology Accessible to Small Farms

Many existing UAV systems for agriculture are prohibitively expensive for small farms, often costing tens of thousands of dollars. A primary goal of this multi-year study is to determine how to lower these costs while ensuring the technology remains effective. According to Beaudry, drones are currently used on larger Midwest farms for disease and weed scouting purposes, both by individual farms and crop advising companies, in part because the costs can be spread over more acres.

The research team believes that if they can show the effectiveness of using lower-cost drones that can provide technically accessible data could significantly help small and medium-sized New England farmers more sustainably manage their crops. Early disease detection can help farmers apply treatments sooner, optimize application quantities, adjust harvest schedules and make better crop management decisions, ultimately reducing yield losses and improving economic returns and food-production resiliency.

鈥淪couting crops has always been important but having a perspective from a few hundred feet up allows you to see patterns in the field that you might otherwise miss,鈥� said , a dairy, livestock and forage crops field specialist with 易胜博官网 Extension and member of the research group. 鈥淒rones could help farmers identify issues with crop health, soil health, or weed infestations, and it would be easier to see changes over time.鈥�

, a fruit and vegetable production field specialist with 易胜博官网 Extension, said that we鈥檙e just starting to see drone usage on 易胜博官网 farms, but they offer incredible potential, for everything from farm planning and identifying best placements for crop and infrastructure to crop monitoring and management.

In year two of this study, the team will focus on refining their methods and look to expand the study to other farms.

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This material is based on work supported by the NH Agricultural Experiment Station through joint funding from the (under McIntire-Stennis award number 1026105)and the state of 易胜博官网.