Farm owners and unidentified drones
By Peggy Kirk Hall, Director, Agricultural and Resource Law Program and Ryan McMichael, Agriculture and Natural Resource Educator, Mercer County, The Ohio State University
Drones, or more accurately named Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV), have helped provide new methods of pesticide applications and agronomic data collection to assist farmers with productivity and efficiency. Yet, the possibility of unknown drones flying over a farm property can cause concerns. Recent conversations and sightings of drones in rural areas have producers raising questions, such as “what can I do about suspicious drone activity” and “can I shoot down a drone over my property?” Federal and state laws provide answers to these questions. Here are several points farmers need to know about dealing with UAV traveling over their properties.
- Shooting a drone is a crime under Federal and state laws. Federal law prohibits a person from intentionally harming UAV and other aircraft. It is a Federal felony to willfully “damage, destroy, disable, or wreck any aircraft,” and the Federal government has prosecuted persons for doing so.