Politics & technology: U.S. polices restricting unmanned aerial systems in agriculture

Popularized images of the silent-kills overseas using militarized UASs, safety concerns, and a fear of privacy invasions were found to generate intense opposition to their domestic integration. Spurred by the FAA's congressional mandate to fully integrate UASs into the nation's airspace, a significant number of bills, particularly in state legislatures, have been introduced in an attempt to regulate UAS use. Although geared toward privacy protection and law enforcement, some laws may adversely affect agriculture because they create legal uncertainty and/or they sweepingly ban or highly curtail local UAS operations. Possible solutions have been proposed: (1) reducing the legal uncertainty regarding UASs, (2) adopting an industry Code of Conduct and Safe Practices, and (3) producing a consensus on UAS regulations among diverse groups through an open discussion of how to balance UAS operations with safeguards on privacy and property rights. The perceived economic potential of the UAS, particularly in agriculture, combined with the lobbying power of the UAS industry, strongly suggest that policy will eventually be developed that will allow the use of this technology for agriculture in U.S. airspace.