Source: NCDA&CS, 4/15/21


On a recent spring day, the buzz of drones filled the air over one of N.C. State University’s field labs about five miles south of campus. Beside the big open fields, stood staff from the N.C. Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, heads tilted up. An overcast sky helped them stare up to follow each drone as it took off for a flight one-by-one.

The small group of staff came from the department’s Structural Pest Control and Pesticides Division – specifically the Pesticides Section. They were there to see a sampling of three drones to figure out which one they may want to begin using to investigate pesticide damage in farmers’ fields. Dr. Gary Roberson, an NCSU professor and extension specialist in the Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering was leading the test flights, along with two other researchers.

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