Blair known for using technology to improve harvests

By DAVE WILKINS

Capital Press

Robert Blair is taking precision agriculture to new heights.

The North Idaho farmer uses a small, unmanned aircraft with a 9-foot wingspan to gather high-resolution aerial images of his crops.

The plane weighs about 10 pounds when equipped with a battery, two digital cameras and a GPS unit. It's launched by hand and flies mostly on auto-pilot, but can be controlled remotely from the ground.

"It's a hobby plane on steroids," he said.

Blair raises wheat, barley, peas, lentils, garbanzo beans, hay and cattle on a 1,500-acre dryland farm near Kendrick, Idaho.

Blair is always looking for ways to increase farm efficiency through technology, said Travis Jones, executive director of the Idaho Grain Producers Association.

In July, Blair was named the 2009 Precision Farmer of the Year by the Precision Ag Institute.

"Robert is always thinking of the next thing to stay at the front of the pack," said Jones, who attended the University of Idaho with Blair. "You talk to him and he has about 20 ideas going on at the same time."

He first got interested in precision agriculture in about 2004. He started out collecting yield data via satellite mapping, then used that data the following year to make variable rate nitrogen fertilizer applications.

But Blair wanted to gather information not just at harvest, but during the growing season. To do that, in 2006 he bought an unmanned aircraft system, making him the first farmer in the United States to own and fly one on his own land.

The plane came with one camera that took digital photos, but Blair built a prototype plane equipped with two cameras, including one that captured near-infrared photos.

The infrared photos are downloaded into a computer program that assigns a precise value to each plot on the colored image based on a vegetative index. This in turn helps Blair track the progress of his crops.

The technology fits in with other precision ag advances such as auto-steering, yield monitoring and variable-rate applications, he said.

"With unmanned aircraft systems, we're trying to bring everything together so a farmer can have everything at his fingertips whenever he wants," Blair said.

Besides helping farmers become more efficient, the images can provide supporting evidence for crop insurance claims or to prove eligibility for government farm programs.

Blair hopes someday to produce and market unmanned aircraft based on his prototype. He estimates they'll sell for about $15,000, including the software and training. He's already filed a petition with the Federal Aviation Administration for commercial use.

Blair believes the unmanned planes are a better alternative to other methods of aerial crop imaging.

In 2004, he paid $6 an acre to have a regular fixed-wing airplane take photos of his fields.

"The total cost was about $9,000 on my farm," he said. "That's a lot of money for one flight."

Satellite imaging doesn't work when it's cloudy. And to get close-up, high-resolution satellite images of fields "you have to pay through the nose," he said.

Robert Blair

Occupation: Farmer, owner of PineCreek Precision

Age: 41

Hometown: Kendrick, Idaho

Education: Bachelor's degree in ag business, University of Idaho

Family: Wife, Rhonda, and two boys, 13 and 11

PineCreek Precision: www.pinecreekprecision.com