the job of an ag pilot is to apply chemicals, fertilizers, seeds, on crop ground in general.

because we're operating ten feet off the ground in the obstacle environment, moments of inattention that are maybe a fraction of a second can turn dangerous really fast.

our margin for error is so small.

the more and more building that goes on in Northern Colorado that creates more infrastructure, more roads, more power lines, more light poles, There are some spots that we just don't want to put an airplane in because of safety issues, or because it's surrounded by houses.

we just don't feel comfortable doing that.

there was always some burning desire inside of me to get into aviation.

when I got into college, I decided, you know, I think I want to I want to pursue this took an intro flight, which is where you go up with a flight instructor, and they just kind of take you around and show you how to fly the airplane a little bit and see if it's something you like.

I did that and I was hooked.

very minute that we took off, I was like, I'm doing this the rest of my life.

the more I got into it, the more my ag roots were calling me back.

One of the big reasons planes are good for this type of work is the timeliness.

when the pests start coming on, there's potential to lose a huge amount of yield for that farmer.

being is involved in agriculture as I have been.

I've always known that drones were going to come into this world in some way, shape or form And so when they started talking about using drones for application, it piqued my interest.

We hear a lot of things in the industry, like they're going to take over, there's not going to be manned aircraft anymore.

And and I don't necessarily think that I I think these two tools can be a good complement to each other, there are places that are fit for a drone and there are places that are fit for an airplane, and sometimes they crossover and sometimes they don't.

right now it's all about capacity.

The drones don't have the capacity to be able to cover the large acres quite as quickly as an airplane.

We can only hold about five gallons in the drone, whereas the airplanes, 500 gallons.

if we get to the point where drones have that capability.

I mean, we're talking about a very large piece of equipment that is going to have to have very sophisticated software, air and technology in it to maintain the safety margins.

do I think it'll happen sometime in the future?

I mean, maybe long after we're gone, but I don't know.

the technology is moving at such a rapid pace,