Drones & Redrawing Boundaries

The use of drones has been getting a lot of press lately and the Federal Aviation Administration has had to jump into the fray to help head off any issues. Their decision to set up a drone registration system—possibly within two months—is a "tacit admission," the Washington Post writes, that the FAA can't "safely integrate" the popular remote controlled planes into national airspace. However, Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley is concerned drone registration will pose new obstacles for producers.

GRASSLY: It is going to cause a lot of red tape for people but the extent to which individual farmers don't buy their own drones then it's not a problem. A lot of farmers contract with other companies that have drones to run drones over their fields. Those companies would go through that red tape. There might be some cost passed on to the farmer for it

Somewhere along the road the idea was floated that both eastern Washington and Oregon counties would benefit from joining Idaho. There is interest in creating a forum to explore the idea since many farmers would benefit from a move like that. Proponents cite the vast differences between the coastal counties on the west side of the Cascades and the eastern counties. The conversation has been going on for years but the process would take considerable amount of time and is incredibly complex besides the fact that folks in urban areas would more than likely not be in favor of such a move.

That's today's Northwest Report. I'm Greg Martin on the Ag Information Network of the West.