While many farmers have embraced the technology available to scout fields with unmanned aerial vehicles, Jeff Buyck with C&B Operations has taken things a bit further. The John Deere dealer from South Dakota uses manned aircraft to scout fields and help area farmers identify problem spots more quickly.

“It’s really being able to detect an issue before you can see it,” said Buyck. “By the time you see it, it’s too late. Farming is very visual. You drive down the road, my crop looks good, it doesn’t look good. I see an issue here. When we fly over with near infrared optics, it’s what the naked eye can’t see.”

Buyck said a manned aircraft can also get from field to field much more quickly than scouts traveling over the road. The dealership partners with Aerial Precision Imagery out of St. Paul, Minnesota, which provides the high resolution photography. After the data is processed, it can be uploaded to the John Deere Operations Center.

You can here Chuck’s interview with Jeff here: Interview with Jeff Buyck, C&B Operations

You can find conference photos here: 2018 Develop with Deere Conference Photo Album