Can Collect Valuable Data To Make Farming More Efficient

With the proliferation of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles continuing unabated, more and more commercial uses are being found for the aircraft.

Drones, as an example can be useful tools in agribusiness. For the farmer, a UAV can be programmed to fly a particular pattern multiple times over a designated area, allowing him or her to download and analyze data about the condition of crops in the field.

The Capital Journal newspaper reports that drones are being used to analyze soil and field conditions as well as monitoring crops and irrigation.

Growers of specialty crops or commodity crops can also benefit from the data that can be gathered by a drone.

But Tim Kidwell, editor-in-chief of Drone360, told the paper that smaller farms might not see the return on investment if the actually purchase a drone. A farmer with, say, 200 acres might hire a team to monitor his or her crops, or the company that is buying the crops might send a team to assess the product.

But Kidwell said that the aircraft can be useful for getting information quickly, without having to wait for an airplane to fly over fields, or a satellite to make a pass over his or her property. "You can just take your drone out and fly your mission. When it’s necessary you can make that decision,” Kidwell said.

(Image from file)

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