Drones in Dairyland
From a hundred feet in the air, Moriah Rataczak inspects the fields of Gumz Farms in Central Wisconsin. Soaring through the sky like a hawk, she weaves back and forth, looking down over thousands of acres of mint, onions, potatoes, corn, and soybeans. It’s early spring, and Rataczak is checking for new growth in fields throughout Adams, Columbia, Marquette, and Sauk Counties. “I’m looking for crop emergence, seeing how the potatoes and onions are coming up,” says the 22-year-old precision agronomist.