Much more than the eye can see
AWimmera man is finding drone technology is becoming more of a necessity in improving on-farm accuracy.
High-resolution thermal drone imaging allows Nhill’s Marty Colbert to help farmers identify issues in broadacre and livestock farming.
Agriculture researchers are identifying ways to use drones for weed and disease identification, improve water and nutrient deficiencies, yield determinations and pesticide applications.
Mr Colbert jumped on the drone bandwagon about three years ago, finding the imaging technology useful in predicting crop yields, as well as inspecting solar panels.
He has since upgraded to using a thermal-imaging camera that he equips to his drone, or Unmanned Aerial Vehicle, UAV.
The equipment allows him to produce high-resolution thermal photos that can assist with variable rate application on farms – an aspect of precision agriculture that automates the application of materials such as fertilisers, chemical sprays and seeds to the land.
Mr Colbert worked with a company in the United States to get approval to use the military-grade camera to equip to his drone in Australia.
He said this season he would focus on identifying haystack fires.
Mr Colbert said the thermal imaging would allow him to pinpoint where heat was coming from so farmers could quickly locate problematic hay bales.
“I can fly over the sides and top of the shed and identify hot patches to tell the farmer where to go,” he said.
Mr Colbert said thermal imaging was also useful in locating vermin animals such as foxes and wild dogs.
He said he could also locate lost livestock in remote locations.
In crop production, researchers are finding drones useful in pinpointing trouble areas in the field that would not be found by the normal observer.
Mr Colbert said thermal imaging allowed him to observe plants under stress.
“Another example is in summer, when I fly a thermal drone over a vineyard or any irrigated crop, plants in stress put out a warmer signal,” he said.
“If they’re on a dripper line, it might lose its efficiency and drips at the end of the line are smaller than they should be.” Mr Colbert said the drones could play an important role in a farmer’s daily life, where the greatest advantage came from time saved in surveying fields or animals without all of the driving around or footwork.
“I went and mapped a 300-acre paddock to get a field estimate with a drone and it took me an hour,” he said.
“Previously it would have taken me three hours and it wouldn’t have been as accurate because I would have been driving into the paddock blind.
“When I take the drone image, I could split the paddock into seven zones, and I had seven items to work with.
“It’s exponentially more accurate and more efficient than the old style of doing things.”
Pricetag
While drone technology was proving to be a ‘major timesaver’, Mr Colbert stressed the pricetag was likely still too high for most farmers.
“I’m not breaking new ground as drones have been around for a while now,” he said.
“It’s just that they have been hellishly expensive – so out of the reach of the average consumer.
“Some of this equipment can cost you up to $100,000 – no one has a lazy $100k around, to put that into a business plan, you’d go broke.”
Mr Colbert said as the technology continued to improve and the aircraft became more widely available and affordable, they were likely to become an important addition to any farmer’s toolkit.
“Information technology in agriculture is where it’s at. I’m only nibbling at the edge of this IT age,” he said.
“But in the short term, I see opportunities in haystack sheds and intensive agriculture such as identify crop stress.”