Imagine a crop-dusting drone plane. Better yet, picture a drone helicopter circling cropland to alert a farmer to the onset of pests ravaging cropland.

The farmer then could take swift action, eradicating the nuisance before it did more damage.

That’s what employees of Scion UAS envision. The Loveland unmanned aircraft systems maker is perfecting plans for commercialization of drones for use in industries such as agriculture.

Scion UAS, founded last year, recently hired a business development manager who has contacts in civilian and military unmanned aircraft systems markets. The company hopes to parlay his Rolodex to gain a foothold in the agricultural market.

Jim Sampson, Scion UAS founding CEO, believes farmers will adopt unmanned aircraft earlier than in other industries.

“It’s a huge industry, for one,” Sampson said. “It covers a huge amount of real estate.”

He explained that drone aircraft can come equipped with a camera that can use imaging to map crop characteristics. That would help farmers determine things like whether they need to apply additional fertilizer.

The company has a large potential market in Weld County,