2022 NAAA President Jim Perrin and CEO Andrew Moore discussed drone safety issues April 21 on Farm Life Live, an online program hosted by Farm Life Media President Brannon Deal. Deal invited Moore and Perrin on after receiving the unmanned aircraft advisory news release NAAA issued last week.

Moore and Perrin were the show’s sole guests and had a terrific conversation with Deal. The full episode is available for viewing here.

Here are some excerpts from the episode.

Perrin (03:40): “Just to highlight a couple of the issues, once we’re in the air, the drones are almost impossible to see. Add to that that our attention is pretty well focused on a lot of other issues, it’s pretty easy for us as pilots to not see it. … So, No. 1, it’s hard to see; No. 2, there’s a lot going on inside the airplane; and No. 3, Captain Sully can certainly attest to what a small bird can do to a big airplane.”

Deal (04:57): “And so many of the drones today are either white or gray, which makes them completely invisible [to a manned aircraft].”

Moore (05:40): “I think that, Brannon, you mentioned that your drone is equipped with ADS-B technology, which allows the drone operator to see manned aircraft or any aircraft—another drone even—that’s equipped with ADS-B Out technology. So, we definitely would encourage both our members to equip with ADS-B technology, but also all drone operators.”

Moore (06:17): “But first and foremost, and it’s the law that they give right of way to the manned aircraft. That they land really when they’re operating, because they won’t be seen, as Jim just said.” 

Moore (07:35): “As the numbers of drones increase, and it’s used more and more in ag, we just need to make sure that this message is getting out.” 

Perrin (08:30): “The interesting thing with the drone is that really in agriculture we’re seeing it used in two significantly different realms. One is the ag spray drone and the other one is the imaging drones. So obviously two different altitudes, two different risks, and essentially manned aircraft is doing the same. We’re ferrying to and from the fields, and then once we get to the field then we drop down to low-level operations. I’m not as concerned from a collision standpoint with the drone that’s in the field actually spraying, because it’s going to be low and it’s going to be a field, and I would certainly think that we wouldn’t be tasked with spraying the same field at the same time. … But my primary concern and the issues that we have had have been with the imaging drones operating at 400 feet or maybe even a little bit higher. … Between myself and my competitor, we’ve had four close calls with the imaging drones.” 

Moore (12:30): “The other thing that’s in our release to emphasize is to get certified. Get certified and be well trained [as an unmanned aircraft operator]. That way you’re going to know the rules. … Really we would hope that everybody would do that—to be well-trained. Because the greater the professionalism, the safer you are.”

Perrin (15:42): “There is a time and a place, and I don’t want to sound like we’re anti-drone because I’m certainly not anti-drone. I just feel like there’s really four facets that potential drone operators or new drone operators really need to consider. One is the legalities of Part 107, FAA Part 107; if they’re spraying, the legalities of Part 137; the state licensing requirements to be a licensed applicator with the aerial subcategory; and the insurance. And then finally I’ll just say if all four of those criteria are met and the drone is operated within the law and within the regulation, there’s really not much hazard here. Frankly, one of my largest concerns is not seeing the drone operator standing next to the field that I’m treating. I would hate to potentially have a problem with a human exposure situation where somebody might be out there and I don’t even see him when I’m working. So that’s really one of my primary concerns, but again, if the regulations are followed, I think we can all do this without hurting one another.”