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Travis Couch says if anyone would have told him two years ago he’d be flying drones, especially as a business, he’d have told them they’re crazy.
But Friday, the Jackson Township man shared how he’s launched a busy drone agricultural spraying operation.
Couch’s business is called Stone Valley Drones, and he specializes in aerial agricultural application.
“I found out about it through the internet,” Couch said, “and actually I was only thinking about getting into it to spray some of my own land.”
From there, his plans took off, and he now has two drones. The first one he purchased is a smaller one, about 3 to 4 feet wide, the larger one measures about 6 feet wide and can carry 115 pounds. They are much larger and more expensive than personal drones people may have for their own use.
“I started into this around March of this year, taking training, a test and finally earning my drone pilot certification,” Couch said. “Then I had to get my state pesticide applicator certification.”
In addition to those certificates, he also needed to start his own pesticide business to comply with other regulations.
He was then set to get started in his drone spraying business.
Couch’s new venture wasn’t all smooth sailing at first though, he crashed his first drone while learning how to operate it. But he didn’t let that deter him and purchased another drone while waiting for the insurance claim on the first one to get settled.
Now fully operational, Couch can apply fungicides and insecticides over any crop, and says aerial application has an important advantage.
“By spraying using a drone, we’re not damaging any crops on the ground by vehicle wheels or spraying equipment arms,” he said.
He even had one job that required him to spray for gypsy moths in forested areas.
“That was scary since I was maneuvering the drone around and between trees,” said Couch.
He said his new venture is keeping him busy.
“Once word got out I was doing this, and had all of the required certifications, I found myself being busier than I expected” said Couch. “I’ve used the drones for spaying fields around the area and as far away as Williamsport.”
He said he can cover about 3-4 acres on one battery charge. A battery will last about 10-12 minutes. The larger drone can carry about 8 gallons of product, the smaller one holds about 2 gallons.
“Another thing is if someone wants a plane to do aerial spraying, the field must be at least 100 acres in size,” he said. “So I can go in and do spraying from the air using a drone for those type of needs.”
Couch has also found another use for his drones.
“I can also plant seeds like grass and cover crops (such as alfalfa) using a small seed spreader that I put in place of the spraying tank on the drone,” he said.
Couch explained the maximum height he’s allowed to fly his drones is 195 feet, the highest he’s gone so far is 105 feet.
“It works best if I’m spraying about 10 feet above the crops, so I rarely have the need to go very high unless it’s around trees or other obstacles,” he said.
The drones can zip along at about 30 feet per second and cover an area of about 20 feet wide with their spray.
There is quite a bit of technology involved in using drones to spray fields. Couch said he doesn’t just stand and pilot the drone every inch of the way.
“I’ll try to go around the outside boundaries of the field getting marker points, then fly the drone on an automatic pattern,” he explained.
That means that using a pre-set program the drone will fly back and forth across the field and with the right distance between passes to cover the area without skipping or overlap.
Planning for aerial spraying can take a little bit of extra work though.
“Although the drones are equipped with forward and rear-facing cameras, I must be able to see the drone when it’s flying,” Couch pointed out. “I’ve stood on the ground, stood on someone’s house roof, even rode on the top of a log skidder, to make sure I can see the drone at all times,” he said.
Couch offered a demonstration of the drone spraying application to a group of Juniata College students from the Raystown Field Station Friday morning in a field behind Couch’s Sub & Grocery near McAlevys Fort. They are taking the training to become drone pilots and visited with Couch for pointers and to see the technology at work firsthand.
“When I started into this, I’ll admit I was a little nervous,” he told the students. “But as I’ve learned more and more, and especially with the support of the company where I purchased the drones, I feel much more confident and comfortable with what I’m doing.”
Couch has a lot invested in what he’s doing, including two drones, batteries and a rack unit for on his pickup where the pesticide tanks, battery charging unit and a generator are located. He’ll also need to fulfill continuing education requirements to maintain his state pesticide applicator permit and would like to take some additional training for his drone pilot authorization, but he sees those as worthwhile investments in his endeavor.
“I believe this is going to be a growing business, and, in fact, I look for more uses for drones in a lot of different ways in the future,” he said.
Written by Joe Thompson
