Farmers laughed when I flew my drone but I found a secret.

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This was Scott’s comment the first time he flew his drone over the family’s fields.

The farm itself is about 400 acres, and another 200 or so acres are leased. Mainly corn and soybeans are grown, along with some cover crops.

Scott, the son, grew up on the farm but had moved off-farm to work as a mechanic. He had expressed a desire to return to, but the farm wouldn’t provide enough income to support an additional owner. Both the parents and the son were anxious to expand operations and increase profitability. They were faced with an age-old challenge: how to increase farm income and reduce costs.

Precision Agriculture uses smart machinery, GPS, satellites, drones and more to increase efficiency.  Smart machinery can be very expensive; but drones are relatively inexpensive, and the upkeep costs are minimal.

Scott is a drone pilot, and although he just flew his drone for fun, he had gotten his FAA Unmanned Aerial Vehicle [UAV] certificate to improve his knowledge. This allowed him to fly commercially, which included farm activities.

Scott’s first use of the drone was for crop scouting to determine crop emergence, stand count, and crop health. Crop scouting by foot is very inefficient but very necessary. Identifying areas of pest infestation, slow growth due to lack of nutrients, or other factors are crucial. By flying a drone first, Scott determined areas he needed to investigate further on foot.  More on Scott’s activities at the end.

Our service at Farm Crop Maps is very helpful to both drone pilots, and growers who hire pilots to fly their fields and collect photos. Your drone photos are stitched together, and a crop health map is also created. Both are converted to a PDF. You can view, zoom in, and more using Adobe Reader.

Here’s what we do:

Using Open Drone Map software, we stitch together your photographs.

Then using QGIS, our geographic information system software, we  develop a layer showing crop health. Also, a google map is included as a reference.

Using Adobe Acrobat, we create an easy-to-use PDF.  So easy, you can view your fields and make notes from the comfort of your office, perhaps while having a cup of coffee.

We offer a free trial for one of your fields up to 100 acres.  Just upload your drone photos to our Microsoft cloud storage – we’ll send you an email with a link.

In the meantime, sign up for our Farm Use of Drones Newsletter.  We just need your first name and an email.

 

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Back to Scott’s activities – This farm family, like most, has crop insurance. When a disaster strikes, the farmers with drones can provide photos to the insurance adjuster, often before he or she is able to visit the property. Scott is ready just in case and also is looking into exciting future uses such as seeding, applying nutrients and herbicides, etc. all by drone.

 

 

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