Ellman, now in private practice, warns that rules will have to be looser for the benefits to reach any meaningful scale. According to the American Farm Bureau Federation , with the use of drone technology , farmers " ' return - on - investment could be $ 12 per acre for corn and $ 2 to $ 3 per acre for soybeans and wheat . With the UN estimating that food production will need to rise 70 % in the next 35 years , assuming a global population of 9.1 billion people in 2050 , drones will inevitably play a crucial role in increasing food production and quality . In the report , Boston Globe explores advances in drone technologies and their applications within the agricultural sector .
According to the American Farm Bureau Federation , with the use of drone technology , farmers " ' return - on - investment could be $ 12 per acre for corn and $ 2 to $ 3 per acre for soybeans and wheat . With the UN estimating that food production will need to rise 70 % in the next 35 years , assuming a global population of 9.1 billion people in 2050 , drones will inevitably play a crucial role in increasing food production and quality . In the report , Boston Globe explores advances in drone technologies and their applications within the agricultural sector .