San Francisco, USA – If anybody needed more proof that drone technology does work in agriculture, then they have to look no further than Corteva Agriscience.

The worldwide supplier of agriculture technology solitions has more than 600 agriculture drones in its inventory, which it uses as part of its digital solutions to the world food production problem – helping farmers navigate the value chain from planting to harvesting safely, effectively and environmentally friendly.  

And in their continuous efforts to have the drones offer farmers with more accurate information about the status of their crop, Corteva has again joined forces with drone data platform, DroneDeploy to bring improved round the clock management decisions to farmers. The San Francisco-based company will provide streamlined data capture and analysis capabilities for Corteva’s drone fleet, and is now the first third-party company approved to license Corteva’s proprietary Stand Assessment Artificial Intelligence (AI) and machine learning technology.

The two organisations are testing the effectiveness of the Stand Assessment solution, having installed it across Corteva’s global fleet of drones before releasing it for all farmers across the USA. DroneDeploy leveraged Corteva’s proven machine learning algorithms to build the new Stand Assessment solution for farmers; which is a complete flight, capture, analysis and reporting workflow designed to determine crop emergence behaviour for early-stage fields. The solution provides a faster, automated and streamlined workflow that is completed at the field edge to help farmers make decisions about replanting, monitor seed and crop health, and diagnose existing issues in the field before larger issues arise.

“We’re excited to work more closely with Corteva Agriscience to bring cutting-edge tools to the hands of farmers globally,” said Mike Winn, co-founder and CEO of DroneDeploy. “The agricultural industry was one of the earliest adopters of drone technology and continues to be one of DroneDeploy’s priority markets. In 2020, our agricultural customers reached 55 million total acres mapped – a new milestone for the company.”

In addition to its desktop functionality, the Stand Assessment platform can also be used directly on a phone or tablet, bringing data-driven insights to agricultural professionals right at the field’s edge.

Corteva were equally excited at the prospect of working with DroneDeploy again, having engaged the drone software company in previous projects.

“As farmers are asked to do more, that doesn’t negate the need to closely monitor their crops throughout the growing season,” said Jeremy Groeteke, U.S. Digital Agriculture Lead at Corteva. “By collaborating with DroneDeploy, we can now help farmers efficiently scout their fields, provide data-driven analysis and insights around the products they need to use, consider opportunities to replant, and be more informed about their fields’ performance. These tools arm the farmers’ team, including agronomists, seeds representatives and researchers, with the tools they need to help their customers recognise the greatest yield potential they can.”