Caleb O’Neal is spending his Saturday at the Montgomery County fairgrounds teaching about a dozen people how to operate and pilot drones. But they’re not hobbyists, they’re farmers.

“This is not a brand new industry, but it's definitely blooming with modern technologies and just the availability to the everyday producer to get their hands on some of this equipment,” said O’Neal, an MU Extension field specialist.

For years now, farming has become increasingly tech-savvy, and now the next frontier for agriculture tools could be in the sky.

Among the participants in O’Neal’s drone school are farmers, college students and rural Missouri residents interested in working in agriculture.

Drones are among a suite of tools used in what’s known as precision agriculture — a type of farming that us

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