![]() “In aviation, altitude is life insurance, meaning the higher up you are, the more time you have to make decisions if something goes wrong,” he said. The more Williams thought about it, however, the more reservations he had. He was close to launching this business with a partner who managed the Waukesha, Wisconsin, airport. Williams gravitated toward building a crop-dusting business. “I thought about ways I could combine my farming background, my technology/engineering skills and my interest in flying,” he said. When he experienced career burnout, he knew it was time to pivot. During his career, he worked with factory automation systems and also became interested in aviation as a hobby, earning his pilot’s license in 2005. ![]() Raised on a dairy farm in central Wisconsin, Williams graduated from the Milwaukee School of Engineering with a mechanical engineering degree. Just ask Williams, who learned all the steps involved as he built his American Drone business. There are specific rules and regulations you need to follow.” “Buying a drone is not just like buying a new or used car, and off you go. “There’s more to it than people think,” Pernat said. “Drones put the control of aerial applications back into the hands of the grower, by allowing them to operate this equipment themselves.”įarmers sometimes wonder, “Should I buy my own drone or contract with a commercial applicator?” Drones offer an alternative to help get the work done, Williams said. It’s getting harder to find trained, skilled applicators to run conventional ground rigs. “You don’t have those issues with drones.”ĥ. “With traditional aerial application, the plane has to avoid trees, houses and power lines, plus it has to fly back and forth from a local airport,” Williams said. Drones are also safer for the operator, compared to traditional crop dusting. ![]() Drones fly roughly 12 feet above the crop, which enhances precision application and limits drift. When you don’t have huge sprayers with 120-foot booms rolling over your fields (and sinking into the soil), you avoid compaction.Ĥ. ![]() Farmers who chop corn silage have reported a 6- to 15-ton yield increase with the drone, which eliminates corner tucking and crushing, Pernat added.ģ. “Drone applications are often much timelier, and there’s no ground rig crushing the plants,” Pernat said. He has worked with corn and soybean growers who report yield bumps ranging from 6 to 28 bushels per acre with drone applications. Did you know you can lose 3 bushels of yield when the sprayer runs over the crop? Considering $6/bushel corn, that’s an extra $18 per acre in your pocket when you prevent this damage, Williams added. “Whether you need to spray a whole field or spot spray, drones provide the options and efficacy you need,” Pernat said.Ģ. They apply crop protection products exactly when and where they are needed, at the optimum rate, which means more profit potential per acre. Today’s drones are also larger than ever, covering 30-foot swaths and flying 30 feet per second (20.5 miles per hour). While ground rigs can’t run when the ground’s too muddy, for example, that’s no issue for drones. Depending on weather conditions, there’s often only a small window of opportunity for timely applications. Save time and money with precision application. Here are five reasons to consider using drones on your acres:ġ. “I truly believe Jeramy’s on the leading edge of taking drone technology to the next level in agriculture,” said John Pernat, a Wisconsin farmer and sales rep for ProfitProAG, which works with American Drone to serve farmers throughout the Midwest. Williams, a licensed drone pilot, handled drone applications for Midwest ag clients throughout the summer of 2022. “We’re just at the beginning of this potential.” “Every year these drones get bigger and better,” said Williams, the founder and owner of American Drone in Granton, Wisconsin. Jeramy Williams sees so much promise in drones’ potential to transform agriculture that he switched careers and launched a new business to help more farmers benefit from drone technology. These aerial workhorses can literally transcend the limitations of time and space for faster, more flexible in-field applications, from crop protection products and liquid foliar fertilizers to cover crop seeding. Things are looking up, thanks to today’s high-tech drones. When it’s time to spray or spread, how many times is it either too muddy to get into the field, or you can’t get a plane scheduled? What about getting cover crops seeded on time?įorget all that frustration. “We’re just at the beginning of this potential," he said. Jeramy Williams, founder/owner of American Drone, notes that drones get bigger, better and more useful for aerial applications in agriculture.
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