How Could Recent Court Ruling Impact Drone Industry?

On May 22nd, a federal rule requiring owners to register recreational drones with the government was deemed illegal by a federal appeals court.  Since January 2016, UAVs larger than 1.5 pounds needed to be registered with the FAA.  But, last week’s decision said such a rule can only come from Congress.

Will this have an impact on drones in the agriculture industry?  Brian Monarch with UpAngle Drone Services said it won’t.

“Anyone that’s flying drones for agriculture use whether in their own farms or other people’s farms would still require a part 107 license due to the fact that it’s commercial work.  In the future, it might lead towards making that process easier for anyone to get in the drone game.”

Justin Coronado noted that while the industry makes it look easy, properly operating a drone is a complex and time intensive process

“’The software and the capabilities are moving forward, and they are moving forward really quickly, as far as what you are able to do, but it also falls back to having experience how to fly the fields in all kinds of different weather and two, depending upon what kind of data you’re actually trying to archives there’s a lot of things that go in to making those types of decisions.”

To learn how drone services can help your operations, contact UpAngle, at (509) 713-7889.

If you have a story idea for the Washington Ag Network, call (509) 547-1618, or e-mail gvaagen@cherrycreekradio.com