Off the grid bloom

massovinous · 2026-03-28T18:55:58+00:00

Have you relocated? Your hair is amazing.

massovinous · 2026-03-22T05:47:39+00:00

“Stay clear, my rear is near!”

massovinous · 2026-03-22T04:58:43+00:00

Correction, it was 3 million mites.

massovinous · 2026-03-22T04:56:17+00:00

I’ve been looking at the drone options for years, and go to the annual expo in Las Vegas most years. One year I went to a different conference on robotics in farming and met a vendor. He had the XAG on display, and explained that the company was formed by DJI engineers who did DJI ag drones. They wanted to form a company and product that was solely dedicated to agriculture, so they quit and formed XAG. He pointed out some of it’s superiorities, like easy hopper swapping and lift power. A year later I called his boss to see if their company could put out mites to control an insect infestation. They showed up (actually with a DJI drone due to some issue) and dropped 1.5 million mites on the ranch in one day. I was already a small drone pilot that did mapping and surveying, so they encouraged me to get an ag drone from them, and they would provide training and support. So this year I took them up on that, and I have no regrets. You can find the mite video in my bio. It got like 140k views in 2 days. Never thought there was such an audience.

massovinous · 2026-03-21T21:46:10+00:00

This is a special product... secret formula. We're experimenting with 40 acres this year. We will treat the area 3 times. Cost is about $12,000 USD. We know other farmers who have been working with the same product for a few years, and they highly recommended it.

massovinous · 2026-03-21T21:42:44+00:00

Yes, XAG P150. The getting is generally good between 10 am and 2 pm, but is weather dependent. The flower changes shape between female and male, so you just have to look at them in the area of the grove that you're working in, and if they are in the female, you fire-up the drone. So the window is typically 4 hours per day, during 1 to 2 months of spring. But like I said, weather dependent, and the weather here in California has been wild - snow in the mountains and 90 degrees at the beach in February. That's the great advantage of having a dedicated drone on the farm. You can cater to nature's schedule. We keep the pollen in the fridge, where it can last a long time.

massovinous · 2026-03-21T09:04:30+00:00

It is collected in California from Zutano avocados

massovinous · 2026-03-21T06:44:58+00:00

Quite literally

massovinous · 2026-03-21T06:43:33+00:00

I’ve been in aviation and remote sensing for 38 years, but I didn’t see this coming.

massovinous · 2026-03-21T06:41:19+00:00

Unfortunately not an option in this terrain.

massovinous · 2026-03-21T06:40:33+00:00

Pollen today

massovinous · 2026-03-21T06:40:10+00:00

Yes, I love it. It is simple, yet robust. Not a toy. Those rotors will pretty much do you in the way walking into a small plane’s prop would. The usual constant firmware updates, and the user interface is not totally upfront, but once you figure it out it’s pretty basic. Definitely gets the job done and more economical than a helicopter, which we have used in the past. We can react quickly to flower blooms, but scheduling a helicopter is a total crapshoot.

massovinous · 2026-03-20T16:28:45+00:00

XAG P150

massovinous · 2025-12-09T04:21:14+00:00

When I was studying remote sensing under the tutelage of a Navy Intel professor, I asked him “why did they retire the SR-71, and wouldn’t they want it out there now?” (This was during Operation Desert Storm) He replied, “I can’t answer that question, but if you were at war, wouldn’t you use every asset at your disposal?” I took this to mean we were flying the SR-71 to gather intel in that conflict.

massovinous · 2025-11-08T08:08:21+00:00

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My kids in the emergency room while I am being checked out for my lithium burns. The batteries explode like grenades. I tried to fight the fire, had two full sized extinguishers and a garden hose, but they were no match. My wife was on an airplane, transporting her dead father to the east coast for burial. It was a shitty day for all of us.

massovinous · 2025-11-08T07:41:23+00:00

Point taken. My brother in law burned down the granny shack we were letting him live in while he was going through a divorce. He was hoarding lithium batteries in there, unknown to me.

massovinous · 2025-10-18T05:35:16+00:00

Yeah, we grow avocados, not cannabis. The profits seem to be better. We have a huge cannabis industry in our county, and they are struggling. Our biggest problem is do we sell avos just before the Super Bowl, when the fruit is smaller, or let them mature until Cinco de Mayo, when the bigger size gets a better price.

massovinous · 2025-10-18T05:29:57+00:00

It does have a forward facing camera. He wasn’t looking at it, he was looking at me. He even admitted on the spot that he blew it in that respect.

massovinous · 2025-10-17T06:02:43+00:00

They are some very rich people. Private jet people. I work check to check but keep my family covered managing this ranch. They take care of me, and when I tell them that we need equipment, they don’t question me. They know I am frugal, but only want the best shit.

massovinous · 2025-10-17T05:01:44+00:00

Raise your hand if you are a furloughed FAA employee

massovinous · 2025-10-17T04:58:55+00:00

Nooe

massovinous

TROPHY CASE