From Soil to Sky

The hum of propellers drifts over Morris Farms as students gather at the edge of a field, eyes lifted to the sky. Above them, a crop-dusting plane arcs low over the field, its wings catching the sun as water drops from its belly.

This demonstration is more than a show. It’s a glimpse into the future of farming.

Each semester, students in Auburn’s Department of Crop, Soil & Environmental Sciences visit Morris Farms as part of CSES 5/6230: Drones for Crop Production, a course created to prepare them for a new era of agriculture — one where technology and tradition fly together.

“Mr. Morris and his father showed us how their spray operation works and compared drone spraying with airplane applications,” said Adam McGhee, the department’s distance education coordinator and co-instructor for the class. “It’s really eye-opening to see both side-by-side and talk about what each does best.”

Led by Shep Morris, a third-generation pilot and farmer, Morris Farms spans 3,000 acres bordering the university’s teaching fields. For students, it’s the ideal classroom — one where lessons are written in the soil and the sky above it.

Back on campus, McGhee and Assistant Professor Alvaro Sanz-Saez guide students through the tools shaping modern crop production. In this hands-on course, they learn how drones can apply fertilizers and pesticides, plant cover crops, capture remote imagery to monitor plant health, and help farmers make data-driven decisions in real time.

“Drones are showing up everywhere in science these days, and agriculture is no different,” McGhee said. “They can collect tons of data in a short time, and spray drones can safely reach spots that tractors or people can’t. As we saw more of these tools being used, we realized there wasn’t much training out there to help students learn how to actually use them.”

The class combines that technical foundation with plenty of field experience. The department maintains its own small fleet of drones, and each semester, students hear from business owners, lawyers, vendors, other faculty, and farmers who are shaping the industry from every angle.

At Morris Farms, Associate Professor Steve Li adds another layer to the lesson, using water-sensitive paper to measure spray coverage from both drones and planes.

“Students loved seeing the differences up close,” McGhee said. “That trip has become one of the best parts of the whole course.”

From the roar of an airplane engine to the soft hum of a drone, students in Auburn’s crop production program are learning that the tools may evolve but the goal remains the same: to help farmers feed the world, from soil to sky.