Ag Drone School
Ag Drone School Locations - Spring 2023
From your first takeoff to completely legal, autonomous mapping missions in two days!
New this year ... an advanced course focused on spraying and spreading by drone
We are going beyond just imaging - the technology is now here to start applying product. The DJI Agras-series drones have started shipping to Canada, enabling both spreading of cover crops/fertilizers and application of liquid product. The regulations still need to catch up for regulated pesticides, but we'll hopefully be applying those within the next few years as well.
We have a series of clinics coming up throughout the spring. We're starting with a bang ... with "Nozzle Guy" himself, Dr. Tom Wolf of Sprayers101, joining us at the spraying clinics. Be one of the first to join us on a journey to on-farm aerial product application.
We will also continue into our eighth season of Ag Drone School, now with locations at community halls across Canada. Our Ag Drone School deals with every aspect of productive, safe, and legal use of remotely piloted aerial systems by farmers & agronomists. Topics covered include:
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Introduction to Remote Sensing of Vegetation
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NDVI and other vegetative indexes
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Data accuracy: sensor types and calibration
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Future of crop imaging ... hyperspec, thermal, machine learning
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From fly to apply: software workflows
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Use cases: the many uses of drones on farms
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Knowledge Requirements for Small Basic Operations:
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Air law, air traffic rules and procedures
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RPAS airframes, power plants, propulsion and systems
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Human factors
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Meteorology
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Navigation
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Flight operations
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Theory of flight
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Radiotelephony
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Ag Drone School featured on CBC's The National
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Thank you for your interest in Ag Drone School
Everyone is welcome at our Ag Drone School – we’ve enjoyed having everyone participate, from teenagers to retired agronomists, from government environmental agency staff to agtech entrepreneurs. You don't even need to have a drone -- only about ¼ of attendees already have an RPAS, many are just taking the course because they want to learn about it before purchasing anything.
But the vast majority of attendees are farmers and agronomists, and that’s exactly how we like it. During the course, we talk about the uses & limitations of this technology for agriculture and exactly how you would go about using the data. We'll discuss what is possible in vegetative remote sensing now and demonstrate exactly what sensors & software you would use on your farm.
Much of the teaching time, however, is dedicated to the regulatory requirements the federal government imposes. Since June 2019, any operator of an RPAS over 250 grams is now required to have a certificate to operate the drone and must register it. For most farmers, a Basic Certificate is enough. For this reason, our in-person Ag Drone School will focus on delivering the Knowledge Requirements for "Small Basic" operations.
Some farmers and agronomists, however, may need to get an Advanced Certificate. This is the case if you will be operating your drone:
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within 3 nautical miles (5.6 km) of any certified airport (as listed in the Canada Flight Supplement)
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within 1 nautical mile (1.9 km) of any certified heliports
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within controlled airspace (interactive map)
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with a takeoff weight of over 25 kg (Special Flight Operations Certificate required)
For those wishing to get their Advanced Certificate, we offer a supplementary course through a combination of online learning and the in-person Flight Review. This option is only recommended for those that actually need an Advanced Certificate though, as it will be more intense learning and come at considerable additional cost. Our focus in the Ag Drone School will be on getting you prepared to pass your Basic test -- and helping you learn how to actually operate and maintain a drone.
Practical & Exciting
The classes are structured, but not heavy. We include many real-world farm examples, opportunities for sharing, and practical elements to keep the workshop interesting. There will be plenty of time for interactive discussion and conversations. You will also have plenty of opportunity to actually fly -- we start you on the DJI Mini line indoors, but you will also have opportunities to fly larger aircraft outdoors on the second day including several models from the Mavic 3 line and either a Matrice 210 or Matrice 300 RTK aircraft, amongst others.
Still not sure?
Check out the Western Producer article "Easy to use drones becoming crop tool", where several participants share how they will use UAV's in their businesses. Or an article by the CAAR Communicator about our La Salle, Manitoba class: "How I learned to fly a drone".
Perhaps most importantly, most of the attendees at our school are from within an hour or two drive of the hall. By attending a regional course, you will have a group of peers supporting each other as you all start using drones in your businesses.
Questions?
Call Markus Weber
at LandView
Learn & Fly Discount
Learn & Fly
up to 50% off
To encourage customers to fly legally, anyone who attends our Ag Drone School gets a one-time "Learn & Fly" refund of a portion of their registration fees when purchasing one of our packages:
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20% of registration fee refunded with any non-NDVI package over $2,000
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30% with any mapping package
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50% with any multispectral or Matrice 300 RTK packag
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100% of the Spraying Clinic registration with any Agras package