Cold temperatures early Wednesday morning and a lack of helicopter availability led one Franklin County grower to use a drone to try to protect some 40 acres of fruit trees.
With sub-freezing temperatures threatening his fruit trees Wednesday morning, Chad Andrews needed to get creative.Plea for help on social mediaThe Franklin County grower made an unsuccessful plea on social media for help from someone with a helicopter to push warmer air down toward fruit trees in the orchard for Andrews Farm Market .
So instead of a helicopter with one rotor, he turned toward a different kind of aircraft with a 10-foot wingspan and four rotors: an agricultural drone.“It was kind of a last resort, you know, but after seeing it, I think we might try to do more,” he said.Help from Precision Drone ServicesWith the help of Precision Drone Services, LLC, Andrews sought to push back against temperature inversion by using the drone's rotors to attempt to mix warmer air above the relatively low-lying trees with the cold below it.How successful that effort remained to be seen, but Andrews said it was worth a shot, especially after losing 80% of his peach crop the year prior under similar weather circumstances.“It’s not like tomatoes or peppers, when, if you lose your first blossom, you’ve got more coming. This is all we get,” Andrews said. Rotors used to push warm air down to treesJoshua Barry with Precision Drone Services said he was familiar with the idea of using helicopters or drones to use rotors to push warmer air down toward fruit trees — but actually doing it was a first for him.“The foundation for what the principles are for using it is not new. They were already in place, but trying to do it with the drone, that’s what’s new, and that is exciting,” Barry said. Andrews said it will take a few more days to assess the impact on his peach crop. Despite some harm to his apricot crop, he remains optimistic after seeing his nectarine and cherry trees. “If we can save a percentage of the crop, it’s definitely worth it,” Andrews said.
Franklin County Franklin County Grower Joshua Barry Precision Drone Services Drones Protect Crops From Cold Sub-Freezing Temperatures Drone Chad Andrews Rotor Help Warm Air Precision Drone Serviceswith Helicopter Fruit Tree Wednesday Morning Crop Franklin County Grower Peach Crop Plea Treesjoshua Barry Year Andrews Farm Market
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