Flying drones for crop monitoring

[droneguy]

Hi, I have a few questions for any experienced farmers that might be reading this. I am in the process of creating a business to use camera mounted drones to monitor crops. You can fly directly over the crops and deliver a live feed to where the drone operator is or I can put the footage on a DVD. I use a six rotor drone that weighs roughly 6lbs and can fly as far as the eye can see and it can hover in place. The drone can get as close to or as high above the crop as you want up to 400 feet. This can all be done very quickly. I guess my questions are:
1) Would you consider this to be a useful service?
2) How often would you use this service? (Weekly? Monthly?)
3) What other crop monitoring method would this replace?
4) What is this service worth to you? (How much would you pay?)
5) Would you consider using a drone like this for another job?
Any questions?
Thank you and I appreciate any input.

 

[MNBVCXZ]

What format will the data recorded be in? A picture has to be interpreted into a format that can be used digitally, as far as i'am aware.

 

[droneguy]

What format will the data recorded be in? A picture has to be interpreted into a format that can be used digitally, as far as i'am aware.

I use a GoPro camera. Usually I capture the video in AVI format and the pictures as JPegs. I'm sure I could adjust that if necessary though. I've also given thought to using an infra-red camera which I'm told can be useful in finding unhealthy plants. Thanks for the question!

 

[Philip Watkins]

You need to find out what others are offering. For crop monitoring you will need (in my opinion) infra red as a minimum and interpret it into some thing useful. Anything less is just an arial photo and of little use.

 

[Dman2]

Would this be to check for disease, weeds etc??

 

[droneguy]

You need to find out what others are offering. For crop monitoring you will need (in my opinion) infra red as a minimum and interpret it into some thing useful. Anything less is just an arial photo and of little use.

Yes, I've seen that some people use satellite images for checking on their crops. I feel a drone could be more useful however because satellite images can often times be older and not in real time and sometimes obstructed by clouds. Infra-red seems like it is a must. A mounted GPS unit also seems necessary to provide the farmer with a map and be able to pinpoint the problem spots. Thanks for the input.

 

[droneguy]

Would this be to check for disease, weeds etc??

Yes, I think it would be excellent for checking for trouble spots in your crop such as weeds and disease. Thanks for the question.

 

[DrWazzock]

Talk to the big estate managers. They love this kind of thing and have plenty of time and money to mess around with it.

as a small farmer, I know all too well where my trouble spots are. getting around to doing something about them is the problem.

 

[droneguy]

Talk to the big estate managers. They love this kind of thing and have plenty of time and money to mess around with it.

as a small farmer, I know all too well where my trouble spots are. getting around to doing something about them is the problem.

Yeah, I can see how it would be more of a fun toy on a smaller farm. I'm hoping it could be a useful tool on larger farms. Thanks for your input.

 

[Dman2]

Would you be able to see clearly enough to spot the firs signs of disease in a thick crop

 

[Philip Watkins]

Would you be able to see clearly enough to spot the firs signs of disease in a thick crop

That's why, I think, you need infra red because that alters in a stressed crop but is not noticeable in the visible spectrum.

 

[billboy 1]

could also be useful for checking position of land drains

 

[farmerfred86]

We use a large hex for crop monitoring. We carry near-IR, visible and NDVI camera equipment which we can then use with gatekeeper mapping to create a VRA file for the sprayer or fertiliser spreader. You'll find the distortion of a go-pro lens a real pain for any mapping you might want to do.
Ill be honest though its all a bit variable in cereals at the moment. Mapping blackgrass is the holy grail! Its far more accurate in our beet and hopefully maize crops as the larger leaf area gives more information.

I think as the costs tumble most farmers can find use in a simple aerial picture (visible spectrum) as you can learn so much from above. A good example has been working with a client in the Fens who thought that fertiliser or "lack of" was resulting in poor yields... From 300ft up it was clearly a result of the old riverbed/marshland that could be seen running for many miles across neighbouring farmland.

 

[Notquiteretired]

It's a good idea but is the real win not something connected to the sprayer and then auto-dose fertiliser (or whatever) based on the real time 'greenness' data you are getting as your drive/spray.

EDIT *think* I'm the saying the same as @farmerfred86

 

[kneedeep]

Could I fly one to check cattle up to one mile away?
I can see the field (direct line of sight)

 

[Notquiteretired]

Could I fly one to check cattle up to one mile away?
I can see the field (direct line of sight)

Get someone to wander around your cattle on foot up the field recording with their mobile phone and then watch the recording - don't think you'll be able to view realtime 1 mile away and chase cattle with it to check say for lameness.

 

[farmerfred86]

It's a good idea but is the real win not something connected to the sprayer and then auto-dose fertiliser (or whatever) based on the real time 'greenness' data you are getting as your drive/spray.

EDIT *think* I'm the saying the same as @farmerfred86

Don't you think we're re-inventing the N-sensor though?

 

[Dman2]

Can`t see it being as good as getting your boots on and walking through crop

 

[Notquiteretired]

Don't you think we're re-inventing the N-sensor though?

The real time dosing saves you money and helps pay for the tech.

 

[farmerfred86]

Can`t see it being as good as getting your boots on and walking through crop

Seems to me the best viewpoint on the farm is that of the sprayer operator... Always will be!

The real time dosing saves you money and helps pay for the tech.

My point exactly... whether using a drone or an N-sensor...