Drones offer high-flying potential

Dakota Crow, owner of Monarch Drone Solutions

Blake Crow was searching for a way to reclaim some especially rugged southern Missouri pasture ground.  Turns out, he found it – and a start-up business for his son, Dakota.

“We needed a way to better take care of some land we managed for my grandfather,” explains Dakota Crow, owner of Monarch Drone Solutions. “It was rough — too rough for ground application — and there weren’t many aerial applicators in the area.”

Then, in 2021, a drone showed up in the shop at Crow Land and Cattle.

“I didn’t know my dad was buying it,” Crow recalls. “Everybody thought we were crazy and that it wouldn’t work. We weren’t even sure it would work.” Then the results rolled in.

Birthing a business

“It was pretty special getting a piece of family ground in shape and using a new tool to do it,” Crow says. Neighbors noticed and asked if he could spray their pastures too. At first, Crow resisted. He already had an off-farm job and other obligations. Flying the family’s own acres kept him busy enough.

“Plus, there’s a whole slew of legal hoops to set up a commercial application,” he says. “But the requests kept coming in. Eventually, we thought, ‘Maybe there’s something to this.’”

What began as helping a few friends grew to helping friends of friends and then a commercial spray business. When a leading drone manufacturer approached Crow about establishing a dealership, he launched Monarch Drone Solutions. Today, the focus is on sales, service and training, while he’s still doing some commercial applications to test new equipment and crop protection products.

“Our mainstay is keeping everybody else in the air, getting parts, making repairs and staying up to date on the latest equipment and technology, along with the regulatory environment,” Crow explains. He estimates Monarch Drone Solutions has sold between 30 and 40 drones to private and commercial operators with each unit averaging about 5,000 acres of coverage annually.

“Most of those acres are cropland, but pasture work is expanding,” Crow says. “Not many applicators are willing to do pasture work. There’s a great need.”

Among the most recent opportunities for drone work is seeding white clover followed by applications of NovaGraz^™ herbicide. It’s a win-win for grazing programs, he says.

“One of the first projects with our new drone was frost seeding white clover into one of our best hayfields,” Crow explains. “We had a great stand but within a couple of years, that field became overrun with weeds.”

They couldn’t sell premium hay off that parcel. Eventually, they cleaned up the field with an application of DuraCor^® herbicide and started over. Now, NovaGraz is the perfect fit.

“We’ve been impressed with NovaGraz. It’s an amazing tool to have in the toolbox,” Crow says. “Everyone worries about their white clover. There are a lot of inputs involved to establish white clover. We were excited to try NovaGraz and we watched it closely. It controlled everything we hoped it would.”

Airborne advantages

White clover and NovaGraz go together like cows and calves. But Crow says drones really make the combination click, starting with seeding white clover in January and February.

“It’s an amazing solution,” Crow says. “That early spring freeze-thaw window is ideal; we get excellent seed-to-soil contact. But you could never get into those fields and pastures at that time of year with a ground rig."

He says drones bring several advantages to pasture improvement, whether you own one or work with a custom applicator:

• Targeted application. Map weed patches, treat only where needed, and then return to monitor and make follow-up applications. Where the situation dictates, drones work well for broadcast applications too.
• Convenience. Less water to haul (2.5 gallons per acre by drone versus up to 20 gallons per acre by ground for adequate coverage); nimbler than ground equipment.
• Reduced pesticide use. Treat only where weeds or brush threaten productivity.
• Ability to treat unreachable acres. Rough ground and steep slopes can be tough on ground equipment or downright unsafe.
• Applying regardless of ground conditions. Make applications when the timing is right, even when pastures are soft or slick, without tearing or rutting the ground.
• Saving time. Drones can make quick work zipping around pastures to spot-treat weeds and brush.

Flying above the fray

One of the most valuable services Monarch Drone Solutions offers is staying current on advancing technology, Crow says. From the newer, bigger, faster, smarter drone models to ever-changing regulatory requirements and new pesticide offerings for cropland and pastures, Crow relies on his local Corteva Range & Pasture Specialist to ensure optimum results across thousands of grazing acres.

“Our goal is to stay on the leading edge of agricultural products and technologies and to bring them to the Ozarks,” Crow says. “But we can’t be experts in all those areas. We rely heavily on outside resources and appreciate all the knowledge they bring to our business.”

Autonomous Ag — It’s what’s next

Dakota Crow, named one of 10 rising leaders in southwestern Missouri by regional business publication Biz417, doesn’t limit his focus on high-tech farming to drones. He’s preparing for the next step in autonomous farming and how it can potentially help with the declining rural workforce.

“It’s about helping people maximize their time,” he says. “If we can make it work for our operation, we feel it can work for most anyone.”

He sees great potential in offering the world’s first driver-optional, data-driven and 100% electric tractor to customers. Peaking at 70 horsepower and eight hours of runtime, it could handle a rake in a hayfield or a Bush Hog clipping pastures.

“We tested the tractor, and a friend has tested it on their berry farm. We’ve also hosted a few demonstration events,” Crow says. “That size is a good fit for this area and could be a real time and labor saver.”

Even a small, basic drone can be a big help on a cattle operation. For example, he says, many producers rely on thermal-sensing drones to check on cows and locate calves. In row crops, drones can help with stand counts in corn. From an application perspective, he says, it doesn’t take many acres for the investment to pay off.

“They can bring big benefits to a lot of areas and different farm types. Even golf courses use drones to gather multispectral data on everything from moisture levels to identifying stressed areas,” Crow says. “It’s a very different labor model than it was 20 years ago. It’s fun to be a part of.”

Keep up with the growing business and watch videos of Crow’s drones in action on the Monarch Drone Solutions Facebook page.

Under normal field conditions, DuraCor^® is nonvolatile. DuraCor has no grazing or haying restrictions for any class of livestock, including lactating dairy cows, horses (including lactating mares) and meat animals prior to slaughter. Label precautions apply to forage treated with DuraCor and to manure and urine from animals that have consumed treated forage. Consult the label for full details. When using NovaGraz™ herbicide, white clover and annual lespedeza exhibit some initial injury (such as lodging and loss of vigor) but recover. DuraCor and NovaGraz^™ are not registered for sale or use in all states. Contact your state pesticide regulatory agency to determine if a product is registered for sale or use in your state. Always read and follow label directions.