The agricultural drone market has developed rapidly over the past couple of years, moving from first-generation drones that were only marginally effective to the latest highly refined models that deliver unmatched results compared to traditional methods and offer many benefits beyond them.
A Civil Aviation Authority 102-approved agricultural and commercial drone operation based in Whangarei, Culture Drones Limited, has customers with an ever-increasing range of requirements.
These initially started with small-scale spot spraying, then moved to medium to large-scale spot and broadcast applications of both herbicides/pesticides and fertiliser, as well as farming and commercial roof cleaning.
“Now we are getting more enquiries for plant identification and drone-based location, which can really help ground teams locate weeds such as mothplant in dense native bush,” said Murray Brock, Director / Chief Pilot, Culture Drones Limited.
Multispectral scanning and photogrammetry have also become more common, with Brock observing increasing adoption of this technology by farmers to help them make more informed decisions on the farm. More customers have also adopted multispectral mapping, which generates a near-infrared index to assess plant stress and health.
Brock added that this was a great indicator of pasture growth rates and a key tool to inform the correct fertiliser rate for each paddock and to identify any isolated problems that need urgent attention.
Another key tool for marking and monitoring problematic weed growth year on year was photogrammetry, which can accurately outline spray application boundaries.
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