Drone services offered by new Valley business
LEWISBURG — Lewisburg resident Jason Wolfe has found a way to merge his interests in information science and drone technology into a business that can serve farmers and anyone with garden or hard-to-reach forestry needs.
Wolfe launched Pleasant View Drone Services LLC in November 2024 and has been working with Bucknell's Small Business Development Center to better market his services to a broader customer base.
'Jason just recently connected with the center through a partner referral,' said center business consultant Amber Amato de Guerrero, 'and while we're early in the process, we see a lot of potential in what he's building. Our student team helped him explore industry benchmarks and brainstorm target niches, and we're now starting to work together on a marketing plan.'
Wolfe has spent most of his life in the Valley, he said. 'In fact, my grandfather once had a dairy farm in Montandon.' He attended Penn State University, where he initially attended their Ag. School. His degree, however, was in information science technology.
'The way I've seen agriculture going was with a lot of technology, whether it was autonomous tractors or precision planting. That is the direction farming is heading as it becomes more efficient, relying on available technology.'
That's how he had the dream of having a drone business. 'I had played around with drones before, as have many people with toy drones,' Wolfe said. 'But I was at a Penn State demonstration one day where they had a drone spraying crops. I thought that with progressive improvements to drone technology, this would be good for Pennsylvania in the northeast for use to take care of our crops.'
Wolfe knew there were already aerial applications using helicopters and airplanes, 'but if you look at the general geographics of our fields, you have a powerline at one end or a tree line at the other or both. So, for a helicopter to start spraying smaller fields, they have to be 'top gun' pilots.'
Wolfe has watched helicopters spraying and said, 'it's pretty interesting how close those guys come to tree lines and it is dangerous.' Thus, the idea for having a drone spraying business.
'I think it is a great technology,' Wolfe said. 'It's fast, efficient, precise. I can get into small fields and get above the trees.'
Early on he began spraying for the spongy moth, better known as gypsy moths. There were homeowners looking to take care of their oak trees or trees on their properties.
'That is how I got started in the business, flying above trees, which is nerve-wracking for me because you can't see the drone at all times,' he said.
Wolfe is the owner-operator-pilot, in command of one drone, for the time being, he said.
'It's hard to get some farmers right now to weigh in on this new technology,' Wolfe noted. 'But there are some progressive farmers out there who have purchased their own drones. But I specifically focus on drone applications.'
Pleasant View Drones Services now provides spraying trees for caterpillars and gypsy moths and mosquitos. On the residential side, Wolfe said he can do lawn applications.
'I can put anything in my drone,' he said. 'Even grass seed and apply it across a wide area.' On the spray side, he said he can also treat plants.
For more information, call 570-713-0224. Or check out the business on Facebook. A website is in the works, Wolfe said said.
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