Area farmers, ranchers, and agriculture-related businesses filled the Lamar Community College Wellness Center for the Southeast Crops and Livestock Expo (SCALE) last week.

SCALE was a day-long expo providing continuing education for area ag producers. 

“Agriculture is an ever-changing industry and you have to stay on top of it,” said Greg Cash, LCC agriculture faculty and one of the co-sponsors of the event.  “One of my main reasons for working on this event was so my students can see how important it is to continue your education even after they graduate.”  

The expo included a trade show, followed by a crops and livestock market outlook and breakeven analysis along with key financial information regarding FSA loans and programs, crop insurance, and enterprise selection. Nolan Doesken, the Colorado State Climatologist, was the day’s featured speaker who discussed the climate’s impact on agriculture.

The highlight of the event was the Unmanned Aircraft in Agriculture presentation by Daniel Melia of Roboflight Systems, LLC.  Melia discussed the various uses for drones in agriculture such as crop monitoring, farm asset inspection, surveying, livestock monitoring, and precision farming.  He also explained of the types of drones available for use in agriculture and the abilities of each, after which he flew one of the smaller drones in the Wellness Center as a demonstration of how easy the drones are to operate.

“This was a great success for our first year,” said Cash.  “We plan to host it each year and look forward to seeing it grow.” 

Photo: Daniel Melia of RoboFlight Systems, LLC, presents two of his drones to SCALE attendees. Courtesy Lamar Community College.