Consider high-flying seeders

 It was a clear, dry day when Tony Kurt welcomed a small group of neighbors, local officials and media personnel to his fields near Cascade for a drone-seeding demonstration. The fourth-generation farmer has a strong historical connection to his land and its past. But in hosting the event featuring cutting-edge technology he was looking ahead to the future.

During the demo, a professional drone pilot on the ground flew small unmanned aircraft with four arms and eight propellers about 20 feet in the air over corn stalks that were.then yet to be harvested. Kurt was among the first farmers in the county to take part in a drone-seeding program that was new in 2024. The machines can hold about 100 pounds; they dropped seeds between corn and bean rows. Those seeds would become cover crops.

“I’ve had (seeds) flown over in airplanes before, but this is the first time for drones,” said Kurt as he walked his land several weeks after the demonstration.

By then the corn had been picked and radishes were poking up out of the dirt, along with multiple other species of cover crops. The idea behind cover cops is that they will help prevent soil erosion and protect local waterways. Cover crops also increase soil fertility, according to experts.

“One of our mottos is ‘roots in the ground year-round,’” said Eric Schmechel, Dubuque County’s Watershed Program director in Iowa. “Nitrates and other substances don’t run off as much. (Cover crops also) feed carbon into the soil.”

Common cover crops – other than radishes – include oats, rye and clover. Schmechel said those plants support fungi and other microorganisms that enrich soil. Drones allow the seeding process to take place earlier, before cash crops are harvested. That means there’s a greater chance cover crops will be successful in late fall and winter.

“(But) it’s a tough year for it because it’s been so dry,” Kurt said.

The drone cover-crop project is part of an effort funded by a grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Regional Conservation Partnership Program. Dubuque County in Iowa was the first place the drone initiative was tried. Organizers hope it will eventually also benefit farmers in Wisconsin and Illinois.

“We had over 75 farmers sign up this past year,” Schmechel said. “This was our first year (2024) doing it … We had a waiting list.”