Bob Coleman, who utilizes a drone while operating his agricultural monitoring service, poses for a recent photo. The selection committee for the John F. Walchli Memorial Ag Entrepreneurs Award on May 31, 2022, announced the 2016 Hermiston High School graduate is the recipient for the second year in a row.

For a second year in a row, Bob Coleman received the $2,500 John F. Walchli Memorial Ag Entrepreneurs Award. The 2016 Hermiston High School graduate was first recognized in 2020-21 for use of a drone in his agricultural monitoring service.

According to a May 31 press release from board member Mike Mehren, Coleman utilizes a drone to photograph and monitor crops. The voluminous information collected, he said, is fed into a program that Coleman designed, which condenses it into practical and usable data.

“Using this technology, not only saves many man hours spent in the field but also allows correction of problems created by heat, cold, wind, disease, parasites and imprecise water use,” Mehren said. “Changes can be made quickly and efficiently to improve the health and yield of each crop.”

In his spare time, Coleman manages many of the crops grown on his family’s farms. The young entrepreneur, Mehren said, plans to add thermal imaging to the drone, which will further increase and improve data collected.

Coleman, who earned an agricultural business degree from Oregon State University, initially began using a drone as a tool on his parent’s farms. Coleman is able to view crops in about 1/10th the time that it would take a person using a vehicle, Mehren said.

In addition, utilizing advanced imaging technology reveals crop issues that aren’t visible to the human eye. Mehren said the idea for developing the monitoring service grew when neighboring farms and others learned of its capabilities.

The John F. Walchli Memorial Ag Entrepreneurs Award, Mehren said, was created to provide support to young men and women living in west Umatilla County to achieve personal business goals in the field of agriculture. The recipient is selected based on initiative, innovation and accomplishments rather than academic performance. The winner, Mehren said, can use the cash award at their discretion; it does not have to be used for tuition or educational expenses.

The award’s namesake, John Walchli, died in September 2018. He began his farming career raising watermelons while attending Stanfield High School.

Walchli and his wife, Marge, moved to the Hermiston area, where they expanded their farming operation to include potatoes, asparagus, wheat, alfalfa, cattle and bison. Also, Walchli was known for his generosity and giving back to the community.

For more information, contact Mehren at 541-561-4762 or mehrens@eotnet.net.