Jason Carlile, agronomist and owner of Carlile Ag Service, Otterbein, uses a UAV to see field variation and better direct his scouting efforts. The UAV gives Carlile a better idea of which areas of the field need to be checked as opposed to blindly walking into a field.

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"It makes my walking more efficient when I take an aerial photo first," said Carlile. "Aerial imagery can tell a lot about field conditions."

UAVs have the ability to go clear across a field in a matter of minutes, and the images give the grower a wealth of information.

Saving time: Agronomist Jason Carlile flies his UAV at his home near Otterbein. The UAV improves efficiency by directing his in-field scouting effort.

"On a good sunny day, you can see the color variation, the stages of development and the wet spots across a field," said Carlile. "When it's time for yield checks, you can see the amount of variation or consistency and better estimate where the yield is at."

Another benefit of the UAV is checking crops after a weather event.

"From the sky you can see the extent of the damage or recognize that maybe you got lucky this time," said Carlile. "You can also watch the plant response afterward. Some corn will lean over, but, give it a week or so, it will stand back up."

Additionally, UAVs have become more affordable recently.

"A couple of years ago, farmers wouldn't have wanted to purchase their own UAV, but now you can get a great system for $1,500," said Carlile. "Four years ago it would have been $4,000."

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A cheaper system can cost as little as $400, but might not go all the way across the field.

"Once you get up a couple hundred feet you can still get a pretty good picture," said Carlile. "For a typical grower, spending $1500 or so on a scouting tool would be pretty economical."

Sigman is a senior in Purdue University ag communications