January 2020 - 11

cold weather-adverse honeybees, and
specific crosses. Although the Federal
Aviation Administration requires the
company to have a licensed drone
pilot on location, to intervene in case
something goes wrong, the drones are
developed to fly without any remote
human control.
" It is pre-programmed with its flight
somebody hours to do in a truck. "
New York state is betting the
technology will pay off. Winners
were selected on viability of
commercialization and business model,
customer value, food and agriculture
innovation and regional job creation -
the potential for creating high-quality
pattern in all three dimensions, " said cofounder
Michael Winch. Farm-specific
flight patterns, or " missions " for pollen
dispersal, are developed with the assistance
of software and public data, he said.
While the product isn't yet
commercially available, Winch said
" we're capable of flying missions
right now. "
The three partners have already come
a long way in developing their company.
Fine, the son of a chef, was working on
a drone food delivery project before
meeting up with Koball and turning
to agriculture. Matt Koball has an
electronics degree, but as a former olive
grower, he knew of the value of pollen
and that growers in some countries will
even set out trays of pollen in front of
bee hives. Winch has experience working
in the software industry.
" We're able to go down
and do in two or three
minutes what it takes
somebody hours to
do in a truck. "
− Matt Koball, Dropcopter
Dropcopter was established in 2014,
with its first flights taking place in 2015.
For three years, the group worked on
almonds. Then, in 2018, Fine moved to
New York in conjunction with another
pitch program, Genius NY, in which
Dropcopter was a finalist.
Dropcopter's founders are very
interested in vine crops such as
squash, and seed crops.
" The seed crops are what we refer to
as vegetables, broccoli's, other things like
that, " Koball said. Crops like broccoli
and sunflowers use a high concentration
of bees, and require putting in a nonbearing
row of male plants every
third row. Since the male plants take
productivity away from the ground, seed
crops are of much interest to Dropcopter
as a potential market.
However, it's apples, cherries and
almonds that are Dropcopter's " bread and
butter, " Fine said. " We've got independent
studies on all three of those now. "
In New York, they continue to partner
with Cornell Cooperative Extension's
Lake Ontario Fruit Program for research.
" We've recently signed a letter of
support and intent with them to do
research, " Fine said. " We'd like to
investigate the different aspects of our
pollination technology, dial into what
is actually happening genetically with
the pollen we use, as well as some of the
effects of our application on the color
and sizing of the fruit. "
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" This latest business competition
Dropcopter in action. Photo: Dropcopter
The group has already experimented
with working on diverse crops, recently
working with conifer breeders in Brazil
to find a less labor-intensive method for
cross-pollination.
" They've been doing this for a
number of years with people in boom
trucks or pruning towers, " Koball
said. " We're able to go down and do
in two or three minutes what it takes
reflects New York State's support for
building entrepreneurial ecosystems
that will now boost innovative economic
growth in the rich farming and
agricultural areas of the Finger Lakes,
Central and Southern Tier regions, "
said Empire State Development Acting
Commissioner and President and CEOdesignate
Eric Gertler. VGN
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VGN | JANUARY 2020 | 9
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January 2020

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of January 2020
