NEWS

You can categorize drone use in agricultural into two buckets—for imagery and for application.

“Drones aren’t toys—they are tools,” says Michael Ott, CEO of Rantizo. 

Rantizo just received approval for swarming—up to three drones in a single field for application. Swaming Rantizo drones can apply up to 40 acres an hour. 

“Previously, our typical jobs were 5 to 30 acre fields, but with swarming, we’ll see much larger fields—80 to 200 acre jobs,” Ott says. (…)

Whether it’s for examining high-voltage power lines and natural gas pipelines, or seeding and spraying crops in a field, drones are getting a lot of attention, in Iowa and elsewhere.

Drones, also known as unmanned aerial vehicles, have evolved from an experimental technology to a legitimate replacement for traditional human methods in many applications. (…)

Farmers and cover crop businesses reached out to ask how well cover crop seed would pass through damaged corn to reach the soil. To evaluate whether seed could get through damaged corn canopy, Practical Farmers conducted a demonstration using Rantizo’s cover crop drone. (…)

Rantizo secures FAA approval for multiple UAVs and drives greater autonomy and efficiency in crop protection application by air. CEO Michael Ott shares this latest company news with AgriBusiness Global Editor David Frabotta. (…)

When a major league sports facility contacted Rantizo, an Iowa City-based agtech startup providing drone spraying for fields, CEO and co-founder Michael Ott hadn’t yet considered how his company could provide COVID-19 related services. But spraying down a large venue with sanitizing agents, instead of agricultural agents, seemed to match perfectly. (…)

Rantizo has announced it is now approved by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) for operation of multiple drone swarms nationwide.

With this waiver, Rantizo is able to Fly & Apply in rural areas up to the field border and will not be limited to a specific geographic area. (…)

Rantizo announced this week that they are approved by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) for operation of multiple drone swarms nationwide. This waiver allows for the safe operation of three autonomous drone sprayers by a single pilot and one visual observer.

“Our vision is to Fly & Apply on large areas with autonomous drone sprayers, so swarming is a critical component,” said Rantizo CEO Michael Ott through a press release. (…)

Iowa City-based startup Rantizo has been approved by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) for operation of multiple drone swarms nationwide.

With this approval, Rantizo is now able to operate in rural areas up to the field border and will not be limited to a specific geographic area. The company also says that its drone application productivity will increase to ~40 acres per hour, nearly tripling the current rate of 14 acres per hour. In tandem with a soon-to-be-released Mix & Fill auto-tendering station, Rantizo productivity is expected to reach around 60 acres per hour before the end of the summer. (…)

Paul Revere said, one if by land, two if by sea, but now startup Rantizo has received swarm approval for up to three. That’s three drones for aerial applications of crop protection or seed products.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) granted Rantizo a waiver for multiple unmanned aerial vehicle operation with one pilot and one visual observer. (…)

The unmanned aerial vehicle can be a versatile machine providing sky high views of farms. For the folks at Rantizo, the drone has always been seen as an efficient application tool. The challenge for the company was boost productivity to get more acres covered per hour, yet a single airship has limits. What about multiple airships at once flying in a swarm?

That’s the answer and after a lot of work with the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration, Rantizo has gained permits to operate legally with drone swarms in rural areas in the lower 48.(…)

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to surge across the country, ballparks stand empty as large public gatherings have been forbidden. Even when Major League Baseball returns to the field next month, it will be in spectator-less stadiums. The loss of revenue from ticket sales, concessions, and parking is going to be a significant financial hit to ballclubs and precipitated the long, drawn-out negotiations between MLB and the Players Association that only ended on Tuesday.

Rantizo an agricultural-spraying company based out of Iowa City, Iowa, has a solution to help baseball clubs do that as efficiently, quickly and cheaply as possible. Their plan is to use drones to spray chemicals that kill COVID-19.(…)

More than 100 farmers and agricultural retailers from Iowa, Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, Oklahoma and California came last week to Washington County to learn more about soil health.

The stars of the ag field day were drones that can drop cover crop seeds and spray chemicals with pinpoint precision and without trampling plants already in the field.(…)