The North Dakota Department of Agriculture awarded several grants to companies this month to better improve farming operations. One of them includes an unmanned aerial systems developer.
Vertipads, Inc. was given $150,000 from the department towards building infrastructure to service drones used in agriculture. The company designs “vertipads,” which provide landing space and services to drones. Eric Gauthier, CEO of Vertipads, says their infrastructure can lower costs and save time for many ag applications.
“If you had to make some treatments, you can fly the drone above your crops. No need for heavy machinery. You can do other things, for example, ranching. You can inspect your fence because inspecting your fence is long and difficult. Sometimes it can take a day by horse. That’s long. Aircraft can go very fast,” said Gauthier.
Vertipads is a UAS company stationed in France. Gauthier said they set up their North American headquarters in Grand Forks after meeting with state commerce officials last year. Gauthier added that the growing ecosystem due to the Vantis Network and support for UAS made North Dakota a prime location to work in.
Source: kfyrtv.com
Categories: North Dakota, Business