AUVSI's Unmanned Systems 2016

Chad Colby
Nationally Recognized Advocate for Unmanned Systems in Agriculture
360 Yield Center


Chad was raised on a Bureau County, Illinois grain farm. He lead a California-based aviation construction company that designed airport hanger projects and became a pilot. He returned to Illinois and became immersed in precision agriculture, first at Precision Planting, then as a Integrated Solutions Manager and Marketing Manager for one of the nation’s largest John Deere dealers. When customers learned that Chad had a plane, they wanted to fly their fields. So while Chad understood that the airplane’s bird’s-eye perspective was an ideal scouting tool, he also new that the plane was not efficient — owning and flying an aircraft is time-consuming and expensive. His quest to streamline this service led him to unmanned aerial systems. In 2013, he launched AgTechTalk.com to provide the agriculture community with the most up to date information on unmanned aerial systems. The website has become a clearing house for up-to-date information on the four evolving areas of UAVs: airship technology, camera and imaging hardware and software, applications for the technology and on the rules and regulations relating to the commercial use of UAVs. He has been active in providing the industry with a better understanding of this emerging technology at events such as the 2013 John Deere Global IT Conference where he presented “Drones in Agriculture, the Next Phase in Precision Farming” and other events such as the 2014 Precision Aerial Ag Show, LA DroneExpo and 2014 NASDA (National Association of State Departments of Agriculture) Annual Meeting. He also appears often on “This Week in Agribusiness” where he presents a segment called Ag Tech Talk. Colby is also applying his unmanned aerial systems knowledge in his new role as Product Support Lead for 360 Yield Center (360yieldcenter.com). 360 Yield Center combines tools that sense the crop’s needs with new tools that allow for more timely application of nutrient and plant health solutions.

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