Drone Rodeo is underway

The inaugural Drone Rodeo lifts off today as unmanned aircraft companies demonstrate how their products can help farmers and ranchers. UAS Future Farm Program Manager Jeff Lorton says the operators will meet up at the Oregon National Guard armory in Pendleton to head to an 80-acre potato pivot in the Stanfield area. “What’s really important is for the growers to have an opportunity to see what the real-world data looks like,” Lorton said. “That’s really our advantage here in Pendleton. We have the most diverse agriculture of any test range in the United States.” Lorton says both quad-copter and fixed-wing platforms will be operating during the Drone Rodeo. Airport Manager Steve Chrisman says Stahl Farms of Stanfield volunteered the 80-acre piece of land for the event. “They’re flying over a potato crop,” he said. “They’ve been given a month’s worth of satellite data and a month’s worth of soil data, and they’re going to show their skills on collecting more data, integrating it and providing the farmer real, actionable information.”...more

Thank goodness this is about a potato field.
The headline had me worried.