Skippy Scout: Anyone used it or is planning to use it?

[Agtech-Enthusiast]

“Near future” would imply it’s already being planned in legislation though - is it?

It is, as can be seen with amazons drone delivery service and other big projects that have gone underway. However as you and I both know legislation doesn't like to move quickly. So could be this year or could take a few.

 

[e3120]

You know that corner of the field where the crops always slightly backward ?
With the clever use of a drone , a smartphone and an App , Skippy will tell you that over in that corner of the field the crop is slightly backward.

*subscription , training and support package necessary. Statutory rights not affected . Other apps are available.

The value of your investment may go down as well as up.

 

[T Hectares]

At the risk of sounding like a Luddite, I really enjoy field-walking !!
I can walk the dogs, get out of the office or the tractor seat, get some much needed exercise and challenge myself with weed, pest and disease identification.

I can see a drone scouting system being useful on a Canadian prairie to cover the huge scale, but on an average UK farm it’s another way to add to your costs for a questionable benefit while letting a commercial entity have influence over your independence, as we’ve seen with precision farming services in the past the successful start ups soon get bought out by the multinationals and they can use these businesses to collate more control over the industry ( I really am getting more cynical as I nudge towards proper middle age !! )

Tech can have some great potential though, auto steer and auto section are givens, VRA lime P&K great, I’m more interested in future tech that can predict Septoria infection or to spray off individual black grass plants or a robot to inter row hoe, not a service to tell me what I can see from the tractor seat or I can use my eyes to do when crop-walking, drones can’t lift up a leaf to see if there’s Mildew underneath or lift a stone to see what threshold of slugs are underneath.

What it could be useful for though is to be equipped with a laser pen or something along those lines for scaring off/ monitoring pigeons on OSR or Rooks on Beans, a practical use to reduce a time consuming task !!

 

[Laggard]

Raised hundreds of thousands of pounds on Crowdcube and hundreds of thousands of pounds in grants. Sceptical myself but wish them and all that have invested in them well.
I too very much enjoy crop walking.

 

[Hindsight]

It is, as can be seen with amazons drone delivery service and other big projects that have gone underway. However as you and I both know legislation doesn't like to move quickly. So could be this year or could take a few.

Hummingbird start up had a go with drones a year or two back - how do you differ?

 

[Agtech-Enthusiast]

At the risk of sounding like a Luddite, I really enjoy field-walking !!
I can walk the dogs, get out of the office or the tractor seat, get some much needed exercise and challenge myself with weed, pest and disease identification.

I can see a drone scouting system being useful on a Canadian prairie to cover the huge scale, but on an average UK farm it’s another way to add to your costs for a questionable benefit while letting a commercial entity have influence over your independence, as we’ve seen with precision farming services in the past the successful start ups soon get bought out by the multinationals and they can use these businesses to collate more control over the industry ( I really am getting more cynical as I nudge towards proper middle age !! )

Tech can have some great potential though, auto steer and auto section are givens, VRA lime P&K great, I’m more interested in future tech that can predict Septoria infection or to spray off individual black grass plants or a robot to inter row hoe, not a service to tell me what I can see from the tractor seat or I can use my eyes to do when crop-walking, drones can’t lift up a leaf to see if there’s Mildew underneath or lift a stone to see what threshold of slugs are underneath.

What it could be useful for though is to be equipped with a laser pen or something along those lines for scaring off/ monitoring pigeons on OSR or Rooks on Beans, a practical use to reduce a time consuming task !!

Thanks very much for the answer! A lot of our users do still crop walk but for example they will set the drone off in the field next to them whilst they are walking the field they are in. so it just speeds up the process. I do understand your point however and I am very grateful for the real feedback as its very valuable. It can be used for pigeon scaring as the drone drops down to 2 meters on the points you choose.

 

[Agtech-Enthusiast]

Hummingbird start up had a go with drones a year or two back - how do you differ?

Hummingbird offer a service where you pay per hectare whereas we give the decision to the farmer. By having a drone and the software themselves they don't have to wait for the service to be completed if they need quick analysis. Also hummingbird do high level analysis whereas we do leaf level analysis as well as high level.

 

[yellow belly]

at a farm level i see the use of a drone and a recording app replacing service of a field walking agronomist
a big advantage of recording the data is that it can be looked back on and compared from year to year
agronomist information is not easly retained

the system will get refined and be able to identyfy weed patches
and in future a spray drone will be able to do spot spraying and even replacing roguing
the pace that technology can move when carried out by small tech businesses is breathtaking

 

[fudge]

Thanks very much for the answer! A lot of our users do still crop walk but for example they will set the drone off in the field next to them whilst they are walking the field they are in. so it just speeds up the process. I do understand your point however and I am very grateful for the real feedback as its very valuable. It can be used for pigeon scaring as the drone drops down to 2 meters on the points you choose.

With regard to bird scaring can the drone be programmed to make regular unaccompanied “patrols” or does it need to be with an operator?Ideally it would have to capacity to indentify flocks or pest species and then deploy a bird scaring banger in the midst of that flock, hopefully without human input. The agronomy stuff is a non starter IMO, for combinable crops at least.

 

[Mdt]

I have just used the skippy scout today for the 1st time. Very impressed so far with the android app and using it. Quite simple once done a field, organise the scout points, connect drone to app then press fly button and away it goes all automated! Very clever. Looking forward to trying another field.

 

[steveR]

Go one then, someone has to ask....... What is a Skippy Scout?

I actually had a good chat at Groundswell with the Skippy folks. Of no use whatsever to me and my farming, other than academic interest... and that I always have loved cool tech.

Which reminds me, I really must have another go at learning to fly my drone.... After all, how hard can it really be. Kids can fly them!!!!!