Senator Hoeven Praises Local UAV Industry at Drone Focus Meetup

Each month, Adam and I participate in Drone Focus, a lunch meetup about all things drone.

Drone Focus is sponsored by Emerging Prairie and Botlink, a drone industry startup in Fargo. These meetings are attended by engineers, entrepreneurs, and UAV enthusiasts from around the region. North Dakota Senator John Hoeven was the featured guest at the November Drone Focus meetup.

Sen. Hoeven, former North Dakota governor and long-time supporter of the UAV industry, has been integral in developing North Dakota as a hot spot for UAV technology. He began the discussion by going back in time, explaining how North Dakota used its resources to create investment opportunities in the state’s energy sector. He compared the opportunities during that time to the opportunities the UAV sector currently has for North Dakota.

Sen. Hoeven highlighted Altavian, the first North Dakota-made unmanned system, which is manufactured by ComDel in Wahpeton, ND. Hoeven believes that this type of business will increase in the future.

To recognize his support for the local UAV industry, Altavian presented Sen. Hoeven with the Altavian UAS to display in his Washington, D.C., office.

Photo courtesy of Emerging Prairie

We appreciate Sen. Hoeven’s support as he continues to work with the Federal Aviation Administration to further research and commercialize UAV use. His work in Congress is important to Peterson Farms Seed as we continue to research the use of UAVs in agriculture.

Drone Focus will continue to raise the bar for UAV technology in our region and set an example for the rest of the country. I believe the UAV industry has a lot to offer agriculture, and the future looks exciting.