Springfield News-Sun: OSU sees farming uses for drones

Clark County’s ties to drone work, farming jobs could make good fit for ag UAVs. 

The same technology used to hunt militants in the Mideast could one day be put to use on farms here in the Midwest.

A researcher from Ohio State University envisions the day — less than a decade from now — when a farmer waters the crops then launches an unmanned aerial vehicle to monitor precisely where the water went.

“I definitely think this is a staple of future farming operations,” predicted Matt McCrink, a 27-year-old Ph.D. student in aerospace engineering.

The university this week put its inaugural drone prototype on public display for the first time at the Farm Science Review, an annual showcase of ag technology that runs through Thursday at the Molly Caren Agricultural Center in Madison County.

The Dayton-Springfield region already is positioning itself to be a nationally recognized hub of UAV research and development, and a drone for agricultural use hits home even further — one of every seven jobs in Ohio is tied to farming.  Read More...