While you may think most modern technology comes from the military or companies like Microsoft and Apple, many great technological strides are also being taken in agriculture. Drones are just one example. These unmanned aerial vehicles, usually controlled remotely by a pilot from another location, are beginning to find a home in the industry.

Greg Adelman owns Crop Command Agronomy, which uses drone technology in its operations. After growing up on a family farm of about 5,000 acres, Greg attended University and graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Agriculture, majoring in Crop Science. Upon graduation, he gained valuable research and retail industry experience before forming Crop Command Agronomy.

The company provides agronomic services to farmers, using modern technology. Agronomy is the science and technology of producing and using plants for food, fuel, fibre and land reclamation (the process of returning lands back into productive or natural habitats), making it the perfect fit for new technologies, like drones.

The use of remotely piloted drones allows Crop Command Agronomy to employ a more targeted approach and deliver more quantitative analysis of a field. Drones analyse fields and determine the exact area that needs to be treated with a certain pesticide, saving farmers money and helping them practice sustainability. For example, if it was determined that only a portion of a farmer’s field needed to be treated with pesticides, the appropriate amount of pesticide could be loaded into the sprayer and only the infected area would be treated.

Greg enjoys his agronomical work because it allows him to work outside. This makes each day unique, as every change in the weather means something different for the crops. He also enjoys the job security, as there will always be a demand for food. Working so closely with such innovative equipment as drones makes him excited to see where new technologies will take the agriculture industry next.