BISMARCK – Agriculture Commissioner Doug Goehring has announced the awarding of a $274,100 grant to conduct drone detection of noxious weeds.
“The project will focus on sugar beet and soybean fields in four counties during the 2024 growing season, including areas where Palmer amaranth has been previously detected,” Goehring said. “The counties of focus are Traill, Cass, Richland and Barnes.”
The recipient of the grant is Northern Plains UAS Test Site and the proposal leverages multiple organizations including Grand Farm, North Dakota State University (NDSU), iSight Drone Services and Thales to conduct a large-scale noxious weeds surveillance project.
The awardee will coordinate with the North Dakota Department of Agriculture, county weed officers and landowners when flying drones over fields. Locations found to have detections during the survey will remain confidential and identified at the county level only.
The funding for this program was authorized by the 68th Legislative Assembly.