Pollen Systems Corporation has unveiled a “drone-aided managed service and self-service portal” called Pollen Scout, which helps farms and vineyards monitor crop growth, discover irrigation issues, and investigate pests and diseases.

Every week, commercially certified UAS technologists go to subscribing farms and vineyard sites and capture detailed pictures and spectral images using UAS. These pictures and images can help farmers quickly uncover and address common issues, ultimately helping improve crop yield and quality.

Pollen Systems unveiled Pollen Scout during the Woodinville, Washington annual Auction of Washington Wines, which provided a perfect venue to launch the company, and communicate with potential customers.

“We’re delighted to launch the company by being a sponsor of the Auction of Washington Wines, a charitable event benefitting the wine industry and local community. Helping out is core to our beliefs and values as we support our customers,” says Keith McCall, Founder and CEO of Pollen Systems Corporation.

“As a young company, it’s exciting to see the rapid adoption of our solutions and we look forward to expanding our services to other crops and regions in 2019.”

Pollen Systems began flying UAS regularly this year over properties in the Red Mountain American Viticultural Area (A.V.A.) and Walla Walla A.V.A in Washington and Oregon.

Early adopters have found Pollen Scout to be very beneficial thus far.

“We’ve been actively using the images Pollen Systems provides to identify both stressed and high vigor areas in our vineyard,” says James Bukovinsky, Vineyard Manager at Hedges Family Estate Vineyard.

“Having the Pollen team show up weekly gives us the ability to adjust irrigation or to find outbreaks of pests and disease more rapidly throughout the season.”

In addition to vines, Pollen Scout can also be used for crops such as cherries and other stone fruit, raspberries and blueberries, and wheat.