Benzinga | Aug 12, 2021 08:06AM EDT

Workhorse Reports Entered Pilot Program With USDA's Natural Resources Conservation Service For Its Small Unmaned Aerial Systems

Workhorse Group Inc. (Nasdaq: WKHS) ("Workhorse" or "the Company") an American technology company focused on providing sustainable and cost-effective drone-integrated electric vehicles to the last-mile delivery sector, today announced that it has entered into a pilot program with the U.S. Department of Agriculture's ("USDA") Natural Resources Conservation Service ("NRCS") to demonstrate its ability to provide small Unmanned Aerial Systems ("sUAS") as a service to support NRCS efforts in Mississippi.

The NRCS is an agency of the USDA that provides technical assistance to farmers and other private landowners and managers by running voluntary programs and offering science-based solutions that benefit both the landowner and the environment. The NRCS conducts a daily wetland supervision process to audit the quality of drainage easements, dams, ponds, waterways, and various wetlands across thousands of areas of interest throughout the country. This process is currently conducted using satellite imagery as well as hundreds of employees to examine key checkpoints.

The NRCS has entered into an agreement with Workhorse's Aerospace division to improve its supervisory efforts. As part of the pilot program, Workhorse will offer sUAS services, including monitoring via drone, data procurement and analytics. Automating the daily audits with the sUAS will allow the NRCS to expedite information delivery, increase safety for auditors on the ground, be more cost-effective, increase fidelity of the data gathered, and ultimately create a more efficient procedure. The first phase of the program involves the Company collaborating with NRCS agents to gain a field-level understanding of the program's deliverables before implementing its sUAS technology to gather actionable data and insights.

"Engaging in this pilot agreement with the NRCS is the first step in expanding our footprint beyond package delivery and the last mile delivery space," said Workhorse President -- Aerospace John Graber. "Our sUAS technology presents opportunities to diversify our product offerings as well as our potential customer base. We believe our technology and systems are well-suited to meet the needs of the NRCS as they provide a more efficient and effective method for data gathering and analytics compared to their current processes. The goal for this program is to provide the NRCS with a more accurate, economical, safe, and effective solution that can revamp the way they perform wetland supervision. Going forward, we'll be looking at additional opportunities to further commercialize the data acquisition segment of our business through our sUAS, both in the public and private sectors."