College pushes farm drones
When Clark State Community College President Jo Alice Blondin first came to Ohio nearly two years ago, she knew using drones with its agriculture program “was a real opportunity.”
Clark State isn’t the first community college to venture into using unmanned aerial vehicles, also known as unmanned aerial systems and commonly referenced as drones. Sinclair Community College in Dayton first looked into using drones during a 2008 trade mission trip to Israel, and a handful of other U.S. community colleges have developed some type of drone program.
But earlier this month Clark State became the latest institution of higher education to receive a certificate of authorization to fly drones over fields near the Springfield-Beckley Municipal Airport. These drones will collect data for students in the school’s two-year precision ag program, which began this past August.
“It gives our students real-time data that they can analyze and they can help real farmers with,” said Blondin, who spoke with this newspaper in Washington, D.C., as a guest of Speaker of the House John Boehner for this past Tuesday’s State of the Union address. “And with one in seven jobs in Ohio being related to agriculture, and within our region there are nearly 1,200 farms, this is just a great opportunity to test their skills.”
The hope is to acquire additional certificates to fly over more local farms and collect more data for the farming industry.
“Industry will develop around how the farmer uses (the data),” Blondin said. “For example, he sees if there are low levels, or various levels of chemicals, and he needs to provide chemicals in this field — and I’m talking down to the millimeter now, so you’re not wasting.
“You’re actually saving quite a bit of money and time by using the data by targeting the real problems that are in your field.”
The earliest drone data will be used in classes would be this May or next January, said Blondin, whose program is receiving support from Springfield-based SelectTech GeoSpatial. But those who entered the associate degree program this past August will be able to graduate at the earliest in May 2016.
U.S. Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, said he has “worked extensively” to strengthen unique drone ag capabilities and increase Ohio’s leadership in defense and aerospace.
“I am committed to advancing our state’s leadership role in unmanned systems,” said Portman. “Ohioans have a unique ability to develop and build cutting-edge technologies and aerospace equipment with work done at our academic institutions like Clark State, the Air Force Research Lab at Wright-Patterson, NASA Glenn Research Center in Cleveland and industry partners.”
U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, said the Miami Valley is a hub for drone research, training and development and “Clark State is building on that momentum by training students for the jobs of tomorrow.
“By applying UAS technologies to the agriculture industry, we help bolster Ohio’s leading industry by ensuring producers have the resources necessary to compete,” Brown said.