Ag News: Ag Research Spending Flattens and Ag Aviation & Drones

**Public spending for agricultural research has remained flat for the past decade, and a new report says that threatens the nation’s future agricultural productivity.

The study says there’s particular need for public research in crop breeding, crop protection, climate change, animal health, animal disease and foodborne illness.

Although private-sector research funding has increased, the report says that tends to focus on a relatively narrow set of topics.

**As the growing season draws near, in the midst of the pandemic, the National Agricultural Aviation Association is asking all Unmanned Aircraft System operators to be extra mindful of low-flying manned agricultural aircraft operations.

Ag aviators fly as low as 10 feet off the ground, meaning they share airspace with the drones that can fly as high as 400 feet above ground level.

For this reason, NAAA is asking UAV operators to do everything they can to avoid ag aircraft doing important, low-level work.

**The coronavirus pandemic devastated the foodservice sector, which typically moves nearly half of all dairy products, but restaurant sales have started to pick up and it appears a full recovery might not be far off.

Betty Berning, analyst with the Daily Dairy Report, tells www.dairyherd.com, demand patterns for dairy products have already started to shift.

According to Fortune magazine, 110,000 U.S. restaurants closed last year and 2.5 million foodservice workers lost their jobs.

www.dairyherd.com/news/business/dairy-demand-shifting-back-pre-covid-patterns?mkt