Farming Drones

RoboRat

Hi folks,

I'm working on a project with a friend regarding existing technologies that can be adapted for better output and safety. We analysed various industries and different technologies and farming along with construction, were the industries we saw some real potential.

My father-in-law is a semi-retired beef farmer and one thing I noticed is that he spends a lot of time walking the fields to inspect the land and his herd. I know he enjoys it to a degree and it keeps him fit, but he also complains about it. I'm not a farmer so being honest, I am looking at this without the affinity to the land or the animals, and I think this is a big part of farming.

I wanted to get an idea of how farmers felt about embracing new technologies. I know a lot of people on this forum would be tech-savvy so the results may be skewed, but I would be interested in seeing what people thought nonetheless.

One of the areas we looked at is the use of drone technology for both precision farming and maximising the working day. I know this is gaining traction in the like of the US, but the farm set up is a lot different to here and some farms are the size of our counties!

Would you guys embrace drones if they made your day to day life easier or do you prefer the outdoor life and connection to the land? I know there is room for a happy mix but some might just like it the way it is. A lot has changed since Covid and people are embracing technology more with the likes of virtual marts, I know my FIL would never have dreamed of using a virtual mart, but needs must.

Would you be interested in getting an aerial view of your holdings to see where needs attention, what needs to be sprayed, are certain areas growing quicker than others etc? Would livestock farmers be interested in drone technology that allowed them to see where their animals were - perhaps integrating tag readers, heat cameras or even herd counting?

I know a lot of this technology exists, but it seems to be targeting large farms and the outlay may not be worth the expense.

If you're interested in drone farming, what benefits would you see in it or what would you like to see?

(Shoveling sh1t and cleaning the pits is not feasible, we have to wait for proper robotic AI until that's attainable!)

Say my name

What'd interest me is a drone that'd have camera technology that detects the nitrogen content of a crop, carbon content of soil, FLIR technology to tell the soil temperature and how well the crop is.
Oh and one with spraying ability too..:D

emaherx

As a farmer and an engineer, new technology definitely interests me but.....

I don't see a drone being of huge benefit to me in the near future.
I think a drone for precision farming needs to be a hefty enough piece of kit to mange payloads and our almost constant wind.

The other issue with my farm and many others is that it is very disjointed, so range and flight out of LOS and across other peoples property would probably add add an extra layer of complexity including licensing issues.


There may however be a market for a contractor to use for mapping and crop / soil health monitoring and precision spraying etc, but couldn't see it being used daily here anytime soon.

Waffletraktor

Say my name wrote: »

What'd interest me is a drone that'd have camera technology that detects the nitrogen content of a crop, carbon content of soil, FLIR technology to tell the soil temperature and how well the crop is.
Oh and one with spraying ability too..:D

Some of that is all ready on the market. N sensor detects different shades of green for n content. Green area index for thickness of crop but it can’t tell if you have a real bushy wheat plant with 2 tillers out needing n to push a 3rd or if you have 3 3 already and wait a while.

The next generation of sprayers will come with pulse width modulation, it allows you to control volume going out each nozzle regardless of speed or pressure, open up vari rate spraying that needs maps creating. Satellite is used atm iirc.

On crop side of things all drones and sensors fail due to not having a constant source of the same level of light.

For a suckler farmer with cows calving outside you could maybe use a drone to take photos of cows and then maybe build a simple machine learning program to train a model on images of cows calving. This might be handy as an alerting system.

blue5000

Waffletraktor wrote: »

Some of that is all ready on the market. N sensor detects different shades of green for n content. Green area index for thickness of crop but it can’t tell if you have a real bushy wheat plant with 2 tillers out needing n to push a 3rd or if you have 3 3 already and wait a while.

The next generation of sprayers will come with pulse width modulation, it allows you to control volume going out each nozzle regardless of speed or pressure, open up vari rate spraying that needs maps creating. Satellite is used atm iirc.

On crop side of things all drones and sensors fail due to not having a constant source of the same level of light.

The light here is going to be a tricky problem to solve alright. Most of the time it’s cloudy. Would IR work on crops?

Definitely heat detection for an animal lost in scrub or woodland would be of interest, but I reckon security might be of interest to some people too. As emaherx already said fragmentation is a big problem here compared to farms abroad. If you have to drive to an out farm and launch a drone what’s the point in having a drone? Most of us prefer to walk I reckon.

Margins are getting tighter every year so would a drone pay off?

Where I think it might be useful to me would be monitoring forestry. Spruce is basically inaccessible from year 5 to first thinning. Checking for disease or aphids 10m up would be useful.

Cran

Drones for me are limited when comes to agriculture here.
I think next big technology jump in Ag will be robot tractors, not r2d2 farming but more like your robot lawnmower or hoover where they go back to station docks to recharge. They can work 24/7 and have other technology attached for targeted farming such as weed control or fert application.
Sheep farming I'd like high zoom camera in every field tbh above drones

Sacrolyte

I would love a drone that you could input certain waypoints (GPS) that would cover certain land parcels that are up to 5 miles from base. It would fly its route over these parcels ie fields and then return to base. I don’t know what the implications are of flying over private property and roads etc but I would do the course if required. I’m sure this type of drone is out there already but there so many out there it’s hard to see the wood from the trees. Feel free to offer suggestions.

blue5000

blue5000 wrote: »

The light here is going to be a tricky problem to solve alright. Most of the time it’s cloudy. Would IR work on crops?

Definitely heat detection for an animal lost in scrub or woodland would be of interest, but I reckon security might be of interest to some people too. As emaherx already said fragmentation is a big problem here compared to farms abroad. If you have to drive to an out farm and launch a drone what’s the point in having a drone? Most of us prefer to walk I reckon.

Margins are getting tighter every year so would a drone pay off?

Where I think it might be useful to me would be monitoring forestry. Spruce is basically inaccessible from year 5 to first thinning. Checking for disease or aphids 10m up would be useful.

IR works in darkness. In fact night vision cameras use IR.

A drone could travel along roads and go to the out farm. No need for you to get off the couch.

The only reason the right drone for you doesn't exist is because you have not yet given your requirements. Drones wont replace regular farmers but they could assist in a big way.

RoboRat

The only reason the right drone for you doesn't exist is because you have not yet given your requirements. Drones wont replace regular farmers but they could assist in a big way.

That's kind of my sentiments. I feel that farming doesn't get as much attention as other industries because, from my experience, the people involved seem content. Not in an "I absolutely love every aspect of my job" kind of way, but more in an "I'm not too bothered because it's not broken" kind of way... if you get what I'm saying.

I don't think drones could or would ever replace farming, not in this lifetime anyway. I do think they could add something and make it more efficient, and possibly offer better yields. From what I see here, if it did the right things and suited our weather and was at the right price point, then it would be interesting - the means need to justify the ends, and it would need to be proven to do so. And therein lies the conundrum, a lot of the suggestions would cost more which would push the price up to a point where the means don't justify the end.

It's a similar conclusion that we came to because when we looked at the technology that was already there, it seemed quite narrow and targeting a very specific kind of farmer. Large connected holding, good weather, minimal intrusion with a very limited crop variety. I'm sure that's down to where they feel this is where the money lies and involves the least amount of work, so there's better profitability or at least a better chance of a sale.

Thanks for the feedback folks and please add to it. It's been great to get this kind of insight and gives a lot of food for thought!

emaherx

RoboRat wrote: »

That's kind of my sentiments. I feel that farming doesn't get as much attention as other industries because, from my experience, the people involved seem content. Not in an "I absolutely love every aspect of my job" kind of way, but more in an "I'm not too bothered because it's not broken" kind of way... if you get what I'm saying.

I don't think drones could or would ever replace farming, not in this lifetime anyway. I do think they could add something and make it more efficient, and possibly offer better yields. From what I see here, if it did the right things and suited our weather and was at the right price point, then it would be interesting - the means need to justify the ends, and it would need to be proven to do so. And therein lies the conundrum, a lot of the suggestions would cost more which would push the price up to a point where the means don't justify the end.

It's a similar conclusion that we came to because when we looked at the technology that was already there, it seemed quite narrow and targeting a very specific kind of farmer. Large connected holding, good weather, minimal intrusion with a very limited crop variety. I'm sure that's down to where they feel this is where the money lies and involves the least amount of work, so there's better profitability or at least a better chance of a sale.

Thanks for the feedback folks and please add to it. It's been great to get this kind of insight and gives a lot of food for thought!

Not sure I'd agree with all of that, farmers have since the beginning of time embraced and often pioneered new technologies, even the smallest farmers on this little green island.

If farmers see a need for a drone and it's proves to be economically viable then they will become common place, otherwise they'll never take off.

RoboRat

emaherx wrote: »

Not sure I'd agree with all of that, farmers have since the beginning of time embraced and often pioneered new technologies, even the smallest farmers on this little green island.

If farmers see a need for a drone and it's proves to be economically viable then they will become common place, otherwise they'll never take off.

Fair point, I phrased that wrong. I was trying to say that farmers are more considered when dealing with new trends. They don't just adopt because it's new.

Say my name

Just had another thought.

A drone that scans soil for moisture content before a machine enters the field and relays any soft spots back to the software system on the tractor.

Just so you'd know..

Say my name

Say my name wrote: »

Just had another thought.

A drone that scans soil for moisture content before a machine enters the field and relays any soft spots back to the software system on the tractor.

Just so you'd know..

Possible with cheap components. Great idea. Keep them coming!


BTW, I used to work for a company that designed drones. So, I am experienced in this area.

gozunda

Have one that we use to check shed roofs and gutters. Saves a lot of ladderclimbing and helps improves health and safety around the yard. Now if I could only get it to use a scrapper ...

gozunda

gozunda wrote: »

Have one that we use to check shed roofs and gutters. Saves a lot of ladderclimbing and helps improves health and safety around the yard. Now if I could only get it to use a scrapper ...

Part one of that is easy. Second part, might be difficult....

emaherx

Say my name wrote: »

Just had another thought.

A drone that scans soil for moisture content before a machine enters the field and relays any soft spots back to the software system on the tractor.

Just so you'd know..

It will be made obsolete by the hover tractors though.

emaherx

emaherx wrote: »

It will be made obsolete by the hover tractors though.

Well pagers were made obsolete by SMS(although lots of pagers are still in use)
Faxes were made obsolete by e-mail.
The Argos catalogue was made obsolete by the Argos website(though its not as good)

Not doing something because it will be made obsolete by something else isn't a good enough reason to not do it.

emaherx

[Deleted User] wrote: »

Well pagers were made obsolete by SMS(although lots of pagers are still in use)
Faxes were made obsolete by e-mail.
The Argos catalogue was made obsolete by the Argos website(though its not as good)

Not doing something because it will be made obsolete by something else isn't a good enough reason to not do it.

You may have taken my last reply a little too seriously.

But of course how soon something becomes obsolete would be an important consideration in the development phase of any product. To be fair most of the products you mentioned had a good run before they were made obsolete.

I'd imagine tyres or tracks which can dynamically change their shape to reduce ground pressure when moving from hard to soft ground would prove more popular than an aerial servey every time you consider driving into a field.

emaherx

emaherx wrote: »

I'd imagine tyres or tracks which can dynamically change their shape to reduce ground pressure when moving from hard to soft ground would prove more popular than an aerial servey every time you consider driving into a field.

https://www.factsmagazine.co.uk/workshop/wheels-and-tyres/tyre-pressure-control-systems-protect-vehicles-and-roads/

emaherx

[Deleted User] wrote: »

https://www.factsmagazine.co.uk/workshop/wheels-and-tyres/tyre-pressure-control-systems-protect-vehicles-and-roads/

In it's simplest form ability to change tyre pressure from the cab to suit the ground conditions will probably become more popular alright.

But I like these ones too!
https://www.google.com/search?q=wheels+that+change+to+tracks&oq=wheels+that+change+to+tracks&aqs=chrome..69i57.10989j0j4&client=ms-android-lenovo&sourceid=chrome-mobile&ie=UTF-8#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:13a44e66,vid:8iqODh0Czls,st:0

emaherx

emaherx wrote: »

In it's simplest form ability to change tyre pressure from the cab to suit the ground conditions will probably become more popular alright.

But I like these ones too!
https://www.google.com/search?q=wheels+that+change+to+tracks&oq=wheels+that+change+to+tracks&aqs=chrome..69i57.10989j0j4&client=ms-android-lenovo&sourceid=chrome-mobile&ie=UTF-8#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:13a44e66,vid:8iqODh0Czls,st:0

Could use them on the quad!

Say my name

emaherx wrote: »

In it's simplest form ability to change tyre pressure from the cab to suit the ground conditions will probably become more popular alright.

But I like these ones too!
https://www.google.com/search?q=wheels+that+change+to+tracks&oq=wheels+that+change+to+tracks&aqs=chrome..69i57.10989j0j4&client=ms-android-lenovo&sourceid=chrome-mobile&ie=UTF-8#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:13a44e66,vid:8iqODh0Czls,st:0

I thought of the moisture idea today when out dung spreading.

Went into the field and it was perfect for the wheels tyres and air pressure. No visible clue when driving that there was soft ground ahead. No water on the surface, all grass growth the same, no real obvious surface contour that'd tell you I was going into a situation of trafficable to nearly needing a tow out in matter of feet.

I had the 4wd on anyway so was able to back out and turn and keep going.

If the technology was there on screen in the tractor, colour coded on a map of the field to show where you could and couldn't travel it'd be nice.

But then to use such a technology you'd nearly want the drone in a case with you in the tractor.

Although I have seen bigger things travelling with tractors. An umbilical slurry spreading crew have a place where they park a quad bike on their towing unit behind the tractor going from farmer to farmer.

emaherx

Say my name wrote: »

I thought of the moisture idea today when out dung spreading.

Went into the field and it was perfect for the wheels tyres and air pressure. No visible clue when driving that there was soft ground ahead. No water on the surface, all grass growth the same, no real obvious surface contour that'd tell you I was going into a situation of trafficable to nearly needing a tow out in matter of feet.

I had the 4wd on anyway so was able to back out and turn and keep going.

If the technology was there on screen in the tractor, colour coded on a map of the field to show where you could and couldn't travel it'd be nice.

But then to use such a technology you'd nearly want the drone in a case with you in the tractor.

Although I have seen bigger things travelling with tractors. An umbilical slurry spreading crew have a place where they park a quad bike on their towing unit behind the tractor going from farmer to farmer.

No not a drone in a case, you'd get fed up mapping fields out regularly once the novelty wares off. You need a fully autonomous drone (or a swarm of drones) with a docking station in the roof of the tractor that provide live data.

Say my name

emaherx wrote: »

No not a drone in a case, you'd get fed up mapping fields out regularly once the novelty wares off. You need a fully autonomous drone (or a swarm of drones) with a docking station in the roof of the tractor that provide live data.

I'm barely able to get in a shed as is without rising the tractor cab.

You can get moisture soil readings from the sentinel satellite but that can be a few days old and not very detailed.

I've seen a documentary with Gerard Butler involving swarms of drones... didn't end well.

Del2005

Deleted User wrote: »

IR works in darkness. In fact night vision cameras use IR.

A drone could travel along roads and go to the out farm. No need for you to get off the couch.

The only reason the right drone for you doesn't exist is because you have not yet given your requirements. Drones wont replace regular farmers but they could assist in a big way.

How would the drone go along the roads when it can't be more than 300m from the operator, you'd still have to drive to the out farm.

https://www.iaa.ie/general-aviation/drones/drones-regulations-and-guidance-details-page

18. Up to what distance and height can I operate my drone?
You must not operate your drone beyond a distance of 300m or a height of 400ft (120m) above ground level in uncontrolled airspace. You must not operate your drone beyond a distance of 300mor a height of 50ft (15m) in certain parts of controlled airspace, see aeronautical notice U04.

49801

Daft thoughts time... A drone that can recognize sick or lame animals would be handy for early intervention. Rock up to field and launch it and it does it’s flight pattern. hovers over sickly animal. Finds a particular tag# and applies paint marking. Be handy if you get it to count animals in a field or help track down one if your searching for a missing one.

emaherx

Del2005 wrote: »

How would the drone go along the roads when it can't be more than 300m from the operator, you'd still have to drive to the out farm.

https://www.iaa.ie/general-aviation/drones/drones-regulations-and-guidance-details-page

Much of what has been discussed here is hypothetical or possible future use of drones in agriculture. Many industries have planed use for autonomous drones, which I'd imagine would require special licensing beyond that of standard drone users.

6. What if I want to fly my drone outside the limits prescribed in the regulations?
If you wish to fly your drone outside the limits prescribed in the regulations you must apply for a
Specific Operating Permission (SOP) from the IAA following training with one of the IAA
approved drone training facilities.

emaherx

49801 wrote: »

Daft thoughts time... A drone that can recognize sick or lame animals would be handy for early intervention. Rock up to field and launch it and it does it’s flight pattern. hovers over sickly animal. Finds a particular tag# and applies paint marking. Be handy if you get it to count animals in a field or help track down one if your searching for a missing one.

Not that daft, there is already an Irish company working on that sort of AI Vision technology.

Waffletraktor

emaherx wrote: »

In it's simplest form ability to change tyre pressure from the cab to suit the ground conditions will probably become more popular alright.

But I like these ones too!
https://www.google.com/search?q=wheels+that+change+to+tracks&oq=wheels+that+change+to+tracks&aqs=chrome..69i57.10989j0j4&client=ms-android-lenovo&sourceid=chrome-mobile&ie=UTF-8#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:13a44e66,vid:8iqODh0Czls,st:0

Onboard tyre pressure inflation set ups should be mandatory for kit doing field work. Had it on a tractor here for a few days last autumn and it was eye opening, something that wasn't really thought about before.
Being able to deflate tractors or trailers and have them air up before ging down the road, tyre tec these days goes along way to competing with tracks until you get to raw heavy draught work. Have seen a muck spreader on tracks and yanks are putting tracks on big grain chasers now all the same.

AckwelFoley

Last 2 years we have installed lots of security cameras..over 30 infact.

Smart lighting etc

We live miles from the farm but the cameras have reduced need to travel multiple times per day when cows are due to calve.

What I have thought would be if there was a drone that could be launched and flown remotely to look at cattle down the farm or fly a pre programmed route and then back to a charge base..kind of like a robot lawnmower

That would be pretty useful..

..and expensive no doubt

Waffletraktor

Say my name wrote: »

I thought of the moisture idea today when out dung spreading.

Went into the field and it was perfect for the wheels tyres and air pressure. No visible clue when driving that there was soft ground ahead. No water on the surface, all grass growth the same, no real obvious surface contour that'd tell you I was going into a situation of trafficable to nearly needing a tow out in matter of feet.

I had the 4wd on anyway so was able to back out and turn and keep going.

If the technology was there on screen in the tractor, colour coded on a map of the field to show where you could and couldn't travel it'd be nice.

But then to use such a technology you'd nearly want the drone in a case with you in the tractor.

Although I have seen bigger things travelling with tractors. An umbilical slurry spreading crew have a place where they park a quad bike on their towing unit behind the tractor going from farmer to farmer.

Old drain gone bad with the recent wet.?

I think you will see robotic weeders for combinable crops powered by drones taking super accurate images from cameras to process the data just ahead of it. The tech is there for higher value veg crops already, it's just getting it cheap enough to scale.

Say my name

Waffletraktor wrote: »

Old drain gone bad with the recent wet.?

Could be a blocked stone drain deep down.
Rented ground with high ground above and water diverted from a laneway into the field.
It was drier in December than now. Water just doesn't know when to stop flowing now.
Dry bits are drying but spots still bottomless. You'd need a month of this weather to put manners on the hidden traps and deep springs.

trg

We've an outfarm that's 2.5km away in straight line with excellent line of sight.

Would a drone now be able to take off from home fly over and stay in flight while cattle are counted and get back to base?

emaherx

trg wrote: »

We've an outfarm that's 2.5km away in straight line with excellent line of sight.

Would a drone now be able to take off from home fly over and stay in flight while cattle are counted and get back to base?

A drone? Yes absolutely, but not any old drone from Amazon would be suitable.

You'd also need to seek special permission from the aviation authority. And do the required training for commercial operation.


Personally I like counting the cattle in person, too much could be missed from looking through a camera flying through the sky. I think even if I had the latest AI software for checking animals health I'd still like to eyeball them daily.

49801

emaherx wrote: »

A drone? Yes absolutely, but not any old drone from Amazon would be suitable.

You'd also need to seek special permission from the aviation authority. And do the required training for commercial operation.


Personally I like counting the cattle in person, too much could be missed from looking through a camera flying through the sky. I think even if I had the latest AI software for checking animals health I'd still like to eyeball them daily.

100%
Handy to have a drone to find particular animal in a field though in a herd of >100 head for example. Handy to have a pal to speed things up. I’d be more thinking of something that would fly a search pattern for a field automatically and report back while your checking fences or feeding meals say

trg

emaherx wrote: »

A drone? Yes absolutely, but not any old drone from Amazon would be suitable.

You'd also need to seek special permission from the aviation authority. And do the required training for commercial operation.


Personally I like counting the cattle in person, too much could be missed from looking through a camera flying through the sky. I think even if I had the latest AI software for checking animals health I'd still like to eyeball them daily.

Thanks for answering the question I had.

As to 2nd part of your post, wouldn't it be handy to know where they all are before heading over? It would make your eyeball more efficient.

emaherx

trg wrote: »

Thanks for answering the question I had.

As to 2nd part of your post, wouldn't it be handy to know where they all are before heading over? It would make your eyeball more efficient.

Don't get me wrong, I'm all for new tools and technology. Yes I can definitely see a use as an aid but not replacement of regular checking.

What I don’t get is why there isn’t cab docks for the drones- they’re about the size of a cab roof, put a special rack up there and have the drone able to latch on. Drive up, fly about, land back, off ye go again! No messing about the boot, no using up boot space or needing to bring something that has a boot!

Also, how about drones scarecrows?

djmc

i brought a drone at christmas and have used it on a few occasions to bring cattle back into the yard while sitting in the window of house or the jeep. It worked well enough on both occasions but early days yet. I am interested to see how it would work out when they are all out. The fact that it was only a cow and a few calves they might have been tempted to run for the sheds and safety of the herd anyway.
I like the fact that the drone covers ground so quickly its easy to get ahead of animals even if the do go the wrong way. when you get used of it it could be like a dog with wings

AckwelFoley

AckwelFoley wrote: »

What I have thought would be if there was a drone that could be launched and flown remotely to look at cattle down the farm or fly a pre programmed route and then back to a charge base..kind of like a robot lawnmower

That would be pretty useful..

..and expensive no doubt

The software to launch a drone and fly a set route is Open Source, e.g. free. Get a drone which has the feature and it can be done.

blue5000

Deleted User wrote: »

What I don’t get is why there isn’t cab docks for the drones- they’re about the size of a cab roof, put a special rack up there and have the drone able to latch on. Drive up, fly about, land back, off ye go again! No messing about the boot, no using up boot space or needing to bring something that has a boot!

Also, how about drones scarecrows?

Low shed entrances, I think it was already mentioned.

Deleted User

Deleted User wrote:

What I don’t get is why there isn’t cab docks for the drones- they’re about the size of a cab roof, put a special rack up there and have the drone able to latch on. Drive up, fly about, land back, off ye go again! No messing about the boot, no using up boot space or needing to bring something that has a boot!

The main problem I think is the drone docking back onto the cab. If you launch the drone and then move the tractor, the drone doesn't know where the tractor is. It can be done, but would make it more expensive. It's easier to just launch from the ground, fly manually or auto-pilot on pre-selected waypoints, and then land back at the same spot. Then fold it up, and put it back in the boot, onto the trailer, etc.

listermint

blue5000 wrote: »

Low shed entrances, I think it was already mentioned.

I don't think everyone has low sheds... The question was why isn't there an attachment. Not do some folks have a low shed roof. Yes there are low sheds. But not all sheds are equal

emaherx

I'm sure someone somewhere has one by now.

Low branches could also be an issue, the dock would need to completely cover the drone after landing to protect it which would add more complications/cost to it.

emaherx

blue5000 wrote: »

Low shed entrances, I think it was already mentioned.

I think the sort of tractor likely to have such a device fitted would probably already have issues fitting into low sheds.

Morris Moss

A problem I've had with my drone is the noise, cows run for the hills when they here it, the father said it sounded like a bot fly so that's probably the reason

the plan of sending it off to collect them for milking didn't last too long, although maybe if they got used to it they might be ok.

Morris Moss

Morris Moss wrote: »

A problem I've had with my drone is the noise, cows run for the hills when they here it, the father said it sounded like a bot fly so that's probably the reason

the plan of sending it off to collect them for milking didn't last too long, although maybe if they got used to it they might be ok.

If they get used to it they won't move at all for it. Flew mine near neighbours cattle accidentally one day, they stood there eyeballing it, not so much as a twitch.

Sheep will get used to them as well if the drone is used around them a lot.

funkey_monkey

I could see the benefit of a drone for a hill farmer where it can be sent up to monitor for sheep. However, to make it useful, it would need to perform some actual tasks - such as seeking out animals in distress and counting the flock.

I'm not sure that robotic tractors will be able to hit the road in a timeframe to make any potential usage of drones null and void.

The drones would need to link in with AI vendors such as Herdeye in order to provide something useful. Don't the European satellites now provide information on soil nutrient data?

An autonomous drone which went out daily reported issues and returned to base and docked itself ready for next day could have potential in that it might mean a busy farmer could avoid physically oversighting crops/animals daily freeing up time for whatever else they have on plate.

The idea of sending up a drone to tx down live video of the fields is not a great step forward as the video will need to be analysed and animals are easier inspected up close with the human eye or to a certain extent, AI. Watching video provides very little benefit and probably increased risk of missing an issue.

If the drone can't be sent out of LoS to check stock at an out farm then I'm not sure what benefit there would be if you have to drive to the outfarm and then release the drone. The step change in efficiency would not be there for the uptake. You'd be as efficient tearing through the fields in the jeep or by taking a quad in the trailer with you.

For soil analysis, then yes I can see it being okay to go farm to farm, but I think that is a narrower market and potentially directed more at agronomists and large scale tillage contractors. Might not even be feasible due to limited market.

I remember when farmers here starting getting a quad years ago. Lazy man etc. His father and everyone else walked the fields etc. Now everyone has a quad. It's progress and TBH they don't seem to have any more spare time than their fathers - if anything they have even less spare time. Not as much hanging over gates chatting these days!

Cattlepen

They are used successfully in China for spraying. What ever software they have the monitor crops and spot spray accordingly thus reducing chemicals.
On the point of rounding up cattle and sheep, you would want to have fighter pilot skills. I tried it and between flying the bloody thing and watching the sheep’s reactions whilst trying to drive them out the gap I made it shoot sideways and onto a road at just about the right height to go through an approaching trucks windscreen. Seriously nearly wet me pants moment before I got control of it and my senses and made it fly up. A very near miss

B Rabbit

Drone works ireland are now spraying with the like of the DJI Agras T-30.

Some job for those areas which are hard to access (i.e. steep terrain)

They can also spread fert, seed etc:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=38Kw4k9rUcw&t=101s&ab_channel=AgriSprayDrones

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fHYMrXJMGY4&t=427s&ab_channel=AgriSprayDrones