Farmers enrol in drone school
By Joan Janzen
When you hear about ground school, flight manoeuvres and acquiring a pilot’s certificate, one usually assumes these are referring to planes. However, Great Plains College Kindersley campus is providing instruction in all those areas at their two-day Ag Drone School for farmers and agronomists on March 15th and 16th.
Region Manager of Great Plains College, Fritz Eckstein, said the college is partnering with LandView Drones, based out of Edmonton. The company sells drones and conducts drone schools; however, this is the first time they have partnered with a college. It’s also the first time Great Plains College has hosted a drone school.
“We have the contacts and marketing available to make this available to our farming community. We are very pleased to host it,” he said. “Drones are becoming increasingly popular as tools for farmers, so we thought it would be a good idea. In Asian countries, they use drones for seeding and fertilizing. It’s becoming increasingly popular and also is becoming more affordable. It’s not just targeted for the farming community. Anyone interested in drones can enrol, including those in the oil and gas industry, hunters and ranchers.”
It’s a popular course amongst farmers these days. Once mastered, the drone advantage is obvious, showing things which aren’t visible from the ground. It will tell you whether you have healthy or unhealthy crops, whether crops are trampled, whether there’s damage from frost or hail. Drones pinpoint issues, so farmers only need to treat problem areas with herbicides or pesticides. That not only saves money; it’s also easier on the environment. Drones are used to check on the health of livestock, which saves time. As technology advances, the demand for drones will increase.
The course’s hands-on instruction includes a Tello drone for practice at home and in-class instruction on operating an unmanned aircraft safely and legally. Drones can be used in 101 ways, including finding, monitoring and counting livestock and spraying by drone. Discussion on business models will include costs and insurance.
Participants will fly through a series of practice indoor flights before venturing outdoors to operate the drone, taking turns as pilots and visual observers. They’ll be versed in best practices in an emergency and learn about maintenance with a focus on battery management.
Students not only take basic ground school instruction but also take the Transport Canada online test for their Basic Pilot’s Certificate. They learn about Canadian Aviation regulations and airspace restrictions in their area.
As of mid-February, Eckstein said they had already met their minimum enrolment requirements, so he encouraged people to enrol quickly. “The cost is quite reasonable,” he noted. And if it proves to be successful, the course will also be brought to a different college location in the future.