New Guide Helps Ag Drone Pilots Maximize Efficiency, Precision in Aerial Seeding

Mar 05, 2025

By Julie Harker

A new University of Missouri Extension publication can help farmers and ag drone pilots maximize efficiency and precision in aerial seeding.

Gurbir Singh, state extension specialist in soil science, agroecology and landscape management, has published a first-of-its-kind guide on calibrating utility drones for broadcast spreading pattern check.

“Until now, spreading patterns have been a guessing game,” said Singh. “This new guide will provide a document for calibration that will save time and money. This will help determine the spreading pattern, and adjustments can be made in the drone settings to correct it.”

The guide determines what the spread is going to be – how far the seed can actually go, Singh said. It takes into account the drone height, swath, speed of flying, hopper opening size and external factors such as crosswinds.

“Whether you’re seeding cover crops, forages or specialty crops, this guide is packed with practical, research-backed insights to help farms and ag drone pilots get the most out of their drone applications,” he said.

The step-by-step instructions help optimize drone settings, reducing waste and improving seed distribution, ultimately saving time and money in the field, he added.

Singh has been studying drones for three years at the MU Greenley Memorial Research Farm in Novelty, and he will have more insights to share in the future.

Greenley Research Farm is part of the MU Northern Missouri Research, Extension and Education Center.

“Utility Drones in Agriculture: Procedures for Drone Calibration and Worksheet for Evaluating Spreading Patterns” is available for free download at https://extension.missouri.edu/publications/mx150.

Source : missouri.edu

Video: Seeing the Whole Season: How Continuous Crop Modeling Is Changing Breeding

Plant breeding has long been shaped by snapshots. A walk through a plot. A single set of notes. A yield check at the end of the season. But crops do not grow in moments. They change every day.

In this conversation, Gary Nijak of AerialPLOT explains how continuous crop modeling is changing the way breeders see, measure, and select plants by capturing growth, stress, and recovery across the entire season, not just at isolated points in time.

Nijak breaks down why point-in-time observations can miss critical performance signals, how repeated, season-long data collection removes the human bottleneck in breeding, and what becomes possible when every plot is treated as a living data set. He also explores how continuous modeling allows breeding programs to move beyond vague descriptors and toward measurable, repeatable insights that connect directly to on-farm outcomes.

This conversation explores:

• What continuous crop modeling is and how it works

• Why traditional field observations fall short over a full growing season

• How scale and repeated measurement change breeding decisions

• What “digital twins” of plots mean for selection and performance

• Why data, not hardware, is driving the next shift in breeding innovation As data-driven breeding moves from research into real-world programs, this discussion offers a clear look at how seeing the whole season is reshaping value for breeders, seed companies, and farmers, and why this may be only the beginning.