The Peru Gazette

Peru, November 23, 2025 –  On September 22, 2025, The Gazette posted a video and story describing Adirondack Farms’ use of drones to plant winter rye seeds in the midst of its corn fields. The rye is prospering as you’ll see in this November 22 video. It poked through the soil several weeks ago. Click here to view the YouTube Video.

Here’s the September 22 story.

By John T Ryan

“What in the world is happening?” I asked myself this morning as I approached a pickup truck-trailer towing a platform and a grain bin. Then I saw the largest drone I’ve ever seen land on the platform. Drone operator Alex Menard stated, “I’m planning a cover crop.”

Adirondack Farms co-owner Jon Rulfs explained, “We bought two drones this year. We’re planting approximately 1,500 acres of winter rye, with drones planting many of those acres. If we plant after harvesting a crop, we use a seed drill.” Before drones, small airplanes dropped the seed.

Rulfs noted that cover crops, such as winter rye, help reduce erosion, especially on sloped fields, while also helping the soil retain fertilizer and capture nutrients. He added that Adirondack Farms plants about 7,000 acres of corn in Peru and at its Moffitt Road farms in Plattsburgh.