We propose partnering with a commercial drone applicator and local farmers to; 1) evaluate spray coverage achieved with drone application in soybean; 2) evaluate cover crop establishment flown on standing soybeans using a drone applicator on cooperating local farms. Results from this project will be published in several forms to disseminate the information to both growers and peers in academia (objective 3). This proposal is for the first second year of this study (2021) and builds upon data we collected in 2020.

1. Determine parameters for improved spray coverage.
2. Determine cover crop establishment.
3. Publish and disseminate results.

Results from this project will be shared with farmers and clientele in various educational outputs, such as: newsletters, meetings, and the possibility of field days and workshops. Results and data will be published and shared in peer-reviewed journal and professional conferences.

Update:
We are scheduled to coordinate the drone application spray and cover crop work with Kirk Floyd of K Drone Services in August when corn and soybean are in reproductive stages. Spray applications will be made with modifications in order to achieve greater spray coverage based off of what we learned from this project last season. A radish cover crop is scheduled to be seeded in a farmer field in August and we will use this field to collect cover crop establishment data. We are also in the process of coordinating a side-by-side comparison trail of cover crop seeding with a drone and a plane/helicopter.

Data from this project was recently presented at the National Association of County Agricultural Agents annual meeting and was a National finalist for excellence in applied research.

Data from this project was recently shared with over 25 individuals during the LEAD Maryland leadership development seminar in June. Additional data and demonstrations are scheduled to be shared with growers during the soybean field day at the Wye REC on August 11.

Update:
See attached documents. Information from this project has also been shared with approximately 350 participants at 3 winter Extension meetings, as well as fellow University colleagues during two national scholarly presentations.

View uploaded report

View uploaded report 2

Soybeans are grown on significant acreage in every county in Maryland; however, production in several Maryland counties (and throughout the northeast) is on smaller, fragmented fields. These small, often irregularly-shaped fields, can make it a challenge for farmers to apply necessary crop protection products (such as herbicides and fungicides) with modern ground spray equipment; and aerial applications with helicopters or airplanes may not be suitable for every field as a result of size, shape, topography, and/or proximity to field edge vegetation or buildings.

With the rapid advancement of drone technology, the possibility of aerial pesticide applications with drones is now realistic, and as a result, drone applicator companies are popping up and offering this commercial pesticide application service to farmers. However, there are several unanswered questions with this new method of application and there is very little research regarding spray coverage and efficacy from drone applications. Likewise, even less is known about the efficacy of aerial seeding cover crops into standing soybeans using drones. A literature review of the subject returns only a handful of references, indicating that very little research has been conducted. The studies that have investigated using drones as sprayers focus on the engineering and physical constraints of drones (lift capacity, battery life, GPS, user interface, etc.) and not as much on the agronomic issues, such as spray coverage or their practical application in row crop agriculture1-5.

This project aims at collecting data to start to answer some of these questions. We propose partnering with a commercial drone applicator and local farmers to; 1) evaluate spray coverage achieved with drone application in soybean; 2) evaluate cover crop establishment flown on standing soybeans using a drone applicator on cooperating local farms. Results from this project will be published in several forms to disseminate the information to both growers and peers in academia (objective 3). This proposal is for the second year of this study (2021), building on preliminary data that we collected in 2020.