Rural Searsboro youth using a drone to farm

       Braxton Brand of rural Searsboro has started his own business, Brand Aerial, LLC. offers crop spraying services using a drone. He started the business this year and sprays herbicide, fertilizer, insecticide and fungicide. “When I fly close to the crops, it moves the canopy (the aboveground portion of a plant or crop) around more and allows for more penetration in the soil,” he said. (submitted photo).

By J.O. Parker
 
         Braxton Brand is an enterprising young man.
         Braxton, the oldest son of Cory and Heidi Brand of rural Searsboro, has started his own company, Brand Aerial, LLC.
        Braxton travels around Central Iowa offering field spraying services using a drone. This includes spraying herbicide (used to kill unwanted plants growing in crops), fertilizer (adding nutrients to crops), insecticide (used to kill unwanted bugs in crops) and fungicide (used to kill diseases in crops).
         It all started a year ago when Braxton started making farm videos at his parent’s farm using a small drone and putting them to music on social media.
           The videos gained a following and peaked Braxton’s interest in doing more with drones. That’s when he saw others using drones in farming.
            “I thought it was something that I could do,” he said.
            That led Braxton to purchasing a drone, a very large drone
           His drone stretches 12-foot across and carries a 12-gallon tank that he uses to spray corn, soybeans or other crops.
        His drone is so big that he has to carry it on a specially equipped trailer that also serves as a base platform for operating the drone.
            He first began offering spraying services in the spring of this year.
          When asked what the advantage is to using a drone verses a plane or helicopter to spray a field, Braxton said he is able to get closer to the crop, greatly increasing the accuracy of covering the field.
            “When I fly close to the crops, it moves the canopy (the aboveground portion of a plant or crop) around more and allows for more penetration in the soil,” he said.
              In order to fly a drone outside of recreational use, Braxton had to earn his remote pilot license from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) along with gaining several exemptions to us his drone for other operations.
            For instance, he has an exemption allowing him to fly his drone at night. The legal window to fly a drone is one-half hour before sunrise and one-half hour after sunset.
               Braxton believes drones are the future of agriculture.
                “I believe in the upcoming years, we will see drones get bigger and more of them,” said Braxton.
He picks up business mostly by word of mouth.
           Braxton said next year, plans are to add two more drones to his spraying operation and that he is currently looking for pilots.
                To learn more about Brand Aerial, LLC services, contact Braxton at 641-325-2294.

        Braxton Brand of rural Searsboro stands next to his large drone he uses to spray crops in Central Iowa through his company, Brand Aerial, LLC. He started the business this year and sprays herbicide, fertilizer, insecticide and fungicide on fields. His plan are to add two more drones and pilots to his operation in 2026. (submitted photo).