A Nebraska Extension educator has been traveling the state connecting agriculture professionals to new technology.
Dirk Charlson, a statewide extension educator for digital agriculture, is helping farmers, agriculture professionals and others learn about drones and how to use them as a precision agriculture tool.
Charlson held courses around the state this summer to prepare individuals to pass the Federal Aviation Administration’s Aeronautical Knowledge Exam to acquire a Part 107 Remote Pilot certificate to fly drones.
“A lot of information we discuss is really new to people unless they grew up with aviation,” he said.
Charlson also led a two-day conference in North Platte in mid-August on using drones in agriculture and spray drones.
He has been teaching courses on drones since 2016 and first taught a series of courses for the university earlier this year. Between Part 107 courses and other drone-focused conferences, Charlson has had more than 300 participants in these events since January.
Charlson, a third-generation pilot, has been flying drones professionally for almost 10 years, mostly for crop scouting and real estate surveying. Charlson is based at the Great Plains Veterinary Education Center near Clay Center and previously taught precision agriculture at Central Community College at the Hastings campus before joining UNL in 2023.
Charlson said people who work in construction, law enforcement and emergency response, and real estate have benefited from the courses and have been fast adopters of using the technology. He has had participants from across five states and a range of ages.
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