ADM Crop Risk Services gets green light from FAA to use drones to speed claims processing

ADM Crop Risk Services (ADM CRS) announced Wednesday that it will begin using drones next year to speed claims processing for customers whose crops have been damaged.

The company is the first in the industry to receive approval from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to operate unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), boosting its claims technology offerings. ADM plans to test the UAVs through the current crop year and introduce it to Midwest customers and others in 2016.

ADM CRS President Greg Mills said adding drone technology puts the company well ahead of industry competitors.

“Our innovative UAV technology — which includes not only the vehicles, but the software to integrate them smoothly into our Aero suite of claims software — allows us to locate and calculate crop damage and transfer that information into a claim quickly, accurately and efficiently, so our customers can get their payments faster than ever before,” Mills said.

ADM will use state-of-the art vehicles and programming. The automated UAVs will be able to take off, make measurements and land by themselves. ADM is designing proprietary software so the vehicles can automatically download information, so claims processing can begin in minutes.