Doug Armknecht is helping people outside our industry get a better understanding of modern-day agriculture, and he’s doing it all through video.
Armknecht has been making films of his in-law’s farm since 2012, and they have gained a solid YouTube following. His newest, “Beauty & Bounty,” was one of 32 selected (out of 400 entrants) for the international NYC Drone Film Festival. The film will premiere at the event on Saturday.
“Just in the past year, I thought that it would be neat to bring these films to a different audience through the film festival,” Armknecht said. “Oftentimes, people who go to film festivals are a different set from people who work on farms, so it’s really a different audience.”
While the new film isn’t available online, this is one example of his past work:
“Beauty & Bounty” largely uses wheat-harvest footage of the LaRosh farm near Osbourne, Kansas. It also includes narrative from patriarch Jhan LaRosh, who talks about what drones mean to his operation.
“As I was putting the film together, I wanted to have my father-in-law tell some of what’s going on here and why the drone is unique for a farm,” Armknecht said. “So I had him do the voiceover.”
Armknecht’s filming was done with a DJI Phantom 3 Professional, and the final product is about 2 minutes and 30 seconds long. His competition in the News/Documentary category are films about the North Dakota Access Pipeline and about a devastating earthquake in Ecuador.
“There have been a lot of narrative-style or documentary-style films at the festival over the past few years, but none has really been about farming,” he said.
Armknecht’s passion for drones and photography in the ag industry will show through in the premiere. He runs the site Kansas Farm Imagery and has an active YouTube following.
“Drones give a different perspective on the farm,” he said. “It’s one thing to see it from the ground, but going up in the air and getting that new view is important.
