LIMA, Ohio (WLIO) - Through a grant from USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture, Rhodes State College has been offering classes as part of their Ag REACH program. One of those courses that they offer is for people to earn their part 107 remote pilot certification for flying drones.
"They’re learning all of the regulations and the airspace and things like that on how to fly drones, so that they can use that in any commercial setting," said Danielle Banks, Ag REACH program director for Rhodes State College. "They could use it to spray fields or scout fields, things like that within the industry."
Rhodes State has been visiting several area high schools for their ag REACH program, and also offer the courses to the public at large. The courses and license fees for the remote pilot certification are free through the USDA grant and participants will go through 15 classroom hours of the course to earn their certification.
Rhodes will be holding a Remote Pilot Certification Training Module this July.
Those with Rhodes say that it's important to provide training and information about the emerging technology in agriculture, as the ag world continues to innovate year by year.
"It’s helping us plant those seeds, just at a more efficient rate, so we’re using that technology to just grow upon what our ancestors have taught us," Banks said. "We’re teaching them that technology in the hopes that they can be that gap between our generations that maybe don’t know as much about the technology, to our new one upcoming, so having them help us bridge that gap and understanding it before they enter the workforce is a really big deal."
Rhodes will be holding a Remote Pilot Certification Training Module this July; more information on that and to register can be found at Rhodes State's website.
